A LOCAL economic think-tank, Research on Poverty Alleviation (REPOA), has urged for the formulation of policies, legal and tax regimes that will ensure the country benefits significantly from natural resources in the extractive industry.
The Executive Director of REPOA, Dr Donald Mmari, said in Dar es Salaam yesterday that if well managed, the resources can play a crucial role in attaining desired inclusive development.
"An important aspect of resource governance to note is that the resources alone cannot guarantee development, but should be coupled with strong institutions and good governance," he remarked.
Dr Mmari made the remarks during the official opening of a five-day training workshop for policy makers and civil society organisations to improve their understanding on basic principles of good governance of natural resources for sustainable and inclusive development.
The workshop which is being conducted jointly by REPOA and Natural Resource Governance Institute (NGRI) is being held under a topic; "How can Tanzania best harness natural resources for the realisation of its development goals within the context of climate change."
Dr Mmari noted that contribution of natural resources to Tanzania's Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and creation of jobs is still low despite, the fact that the country is endowed with huge reserves of natural resources.
He pointed further that Tanzania has a huge potential for natural gas discovered in southern parts of country, stating that the country is in a better position to realize more revenues from the extractive industry.
"The exploitation of natural gas alone is assumed to create direct and indirect multiplier effects in other sectors such as agriculture, industry, construction and creation of jobs in upstream, midstream and downstream phases," he stated.
Dr Mmari expressed concerns, however, that natural resources are rapidly being overexploited with far-reaching consequences on the sustainability of the resources for further generations as well as degradation of the environment.
"In the face of the environment crisis, the government has to respond by creating an enabling eco-friendly environment in term of policies, legal, governance institutions and regulatory frameworks that will allow harnessing the resources.
"An enabling environment is key in attaining effective natural resource management while discouraging corrupt practices," Dr Mmari observed.
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At the same occasion, former Commissioner of Minerals in the Ministry of Minerals, Dr Dalaly Kafumu, has called for speedy formulation of policies to guide extraction and utilisation of natural gas and coal as the world gears towards the transition to clean energy.
Dr Kafumu stressed that once the transition period is over Tanzania may not acquire desired benefits from its vast reserves of natural gas and coal.
Dr Kafumu was however pleased that the planned Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) in southern Tanzania is currently on the cards.
The former mineral commissioner, who is now a consultant in the extractive industry, said the LNG plant is a crucial project as the world grapples with skyrocketing prices of fuel in the world market in the wake of the conflict between Russia and Ukraine.
He thus called for formulation of balanced policies that will put into consideration interests of Tanzanians on one hand and investors on the other.
