Mtwara — FOR the first time in history, Tanzania is set to host an International Cashew Conference (TICC) 2023 to promote investment opportunities available in the country's cashew industry.

Director General of Cashew nuts Board of Tanzania, Mr Francis Alfred said the three-day conference will be held from October 11 to 13 this year at the Julius Nyerere International Conference Centre (JNICC) in Dar es Salaam.

Some 500 participants from various countries are expected to attend the conference themed 'Invest in Cashew for Sustainable Development'.

According to Mr Alfred, some 33 cashew producing countries from Africa and abroad are among the countries to attend the conference.

He named the countries as Ivory Coast, Cambodia, India, Vietnam, Brazil, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Nigeria, Guinea Bissau, Burkina Faso, Mali and Benin.

Other countries that will be in attendance are Ghana, Madagascar, Zambia, Mozambique, Kenya, Mauritius, Comoro and the host country -Tanzania.

Cashew importing countries include United States of America, China, South Africa among others.

Mr Francis said the conference will open opportunity to both local and foreign investors looking for areas to develop viable business ventures in cashew industry.

The conference will also discuss opportunities available in the cashew industry, right from production, processing, and marketing.

On the other hand, Mr Francis said the conference will support the country into implementing its strategies of taking the industry to the next level in Africa and world market.

The government is also determined to increase domestic processing capacity to 60 per cent come 2023/2026 to create sustainable impact in the cashew industry.

The Cashewnuts Board of Tanzania is also targeting to increase production to 1,000,000 million tonnes come 2026.

Cashewnuts is the foreign currency highest earning crop in the country. Available data show that the cashew nut generated 226.9 million USD dollars in 2021/2022 season.