Tanzania Says a New Investment Permit Now Takes 24 Hours. It Used to Take Weeks.

DAR ES SALAAM — Tanzania's government says its newest investment reform is now measured in hours rather than weeks. Speaking in commentary reported in mid-2026 alongside news of a record TZS 29 trillion in investment activity, Prof Kitila Mkumbo, Minister of State for Planning and Investment, credited TISEZA's One Stop Facilitation Centre (OSFC) with a specific, concrete result: investors can now obtain necessary permits within 24 hours, a process he said previously took several weeks. That report sits at the centre of Tanzania's broader pitch to investors, and it rests on an institutional reform that is still less than a year and a half old. One Authority, Fourteen Agencies TISEZA, the Tanzania Investment and Special Economic Zones Authority, launched on 1 July 2025, formed by merging two previously separate bodies: the Tanzania Investment Centre, established in 1997, and the Export Processing Zones Authority, established in 2006. The merger was enacted through the Investment and Special Economic Zones Act, No. 6 of 2025, signed into law by President Samia Suluhu Hassan, which consolidated investment promotion and Special Economic Zone regulation under a single institution for the first time. The Act's centrepiece for investors is the One Stop Facilitation Centre, which brings together 14 public institutions under one roof and one digital platform: ServiceResponsible Institution Company registrationBRELATIN registration & tax exemptionsTanzania Revenue Authority (TRA)Work permitsMinistry responsible for Labour and ImmigrationResidence permitsImmigration DepartmentAccess to landGovernment Land AuthoritiesPower connectivityTANESCOEnvironmental certificationNational Environment Management Council (NEMC)Product standards certificationTanzania Bureau of Standards (TBS)Occupational safety & health certificationOSHANational identificationNIDAMedicines and medical devices certificationTMDAMining investment supportMinistry of MineralsAgricultural investment supportRelevant Agricultural AuthoritiesPrivate sector advisory supportTanzania Private Sector Federation (TPSF) TPSF's presence on that list is itself a recent addition, secured under a partnership agreement TISEZA signed with the private-sector body in March 2026, giving domestic entrepreneurs a formal advisory voice inside the same centre foreign investors use. The Act also changed the terms under which any investor operates in Tanzania. All investors, whether or not they are seeking fiscal incentives, are now required to register with TISEZA before commencing operations, formalising a single point of entry into the investment process rather than leaving registration scattered across the agencies an investor happened to need. The law also states explicitly that no investment may be nationalised without prompt, fair and adequate compensation, a provision aimed directly at reassuring investors wary of expropriation risk. The Numbers TISEZA Is Pointing To The government's case for the reform rests substantially on quarterly registration data. PeriodProjects RegisteredValueNotes Q3 2025 (Jul–Sep)201USD 2.47 billionUAE, China and India led capital sources; concentrated in manufacturing, construction and transportQ4 2025 (Oct–Dec)278USD 3.16 billionMore than double the USD 1.57 billion recorded in Q4 2024; 71,412 jobs projected; China led FDI at USD 950 million Alongside that registration growth, four new Special Economic Zones opened in Bagamoyo, Kibaha, Dodoma and Kahama, covering more than 2,100 hectares combined, and two Dar es Salaam public-private partnership projects worth a combined TZS 182 billion moved forward. Tanzania's own growth figures provide some context for how the investment push fits into the broader economy. The Bank of Tanzania reported Mainland Tanzania's economy grew 5.9% in 2025, slightly below an initial 6% forecast, while Zanzibar expanded 6.8%; early 2026 GDP is projected at around 6.1%. TISEZA and the Ministry of Investment have set a target of USD 15 billion in investment for 2026, part of a stated goal of USD 50 billion cumulatively by 2030, roughly quadruple the pace the fourth-quarter 2025 registration figures alone would suggest if sustained without further acceleration. From a Domestic Reform to an Investor Pitch The centre has become a fixture of how Tanzanian officials present the country to potential investors, not only a back-office process. On 18 July 2026, TISEZA director general Gilead Teri presented the OSFC directly to Egyptian business leaders at the Tanzania-Egypt Business Forum in Dar es Salaam, part of the same state visit that produced a broader push for Egyptian investment in Tanzanian ports and infrastructure. Teri told attendees that many of the support mechanisms available through the centre are free of charge, framing the OSFC itself as one of Tanzania's competitive advantages rather than simply a compliance requirement. TISEZA has also picked up international recognition for the model: the authority received the Special Least Developed Countries Award at the World Association of Investment Promotion Agencies' Investment Excellence Awards in Sharjah in 2025, and TISEZA officials have continued to promote the centre at domestic events through 2026, including an April appearance at the Dar es Salaam-based RIANA Group's "Experience Edge" launch, where the authority's Head of Promotion, Daudi Riganda, pointed to the accompanying Tanzania Electronic Investment Window as a further digital layer improving transparency and cutting processing time, and an SME-focused presentation at the Arusha Expo the same month. What the Reform Does Not Yet Answer The 24-hour permit figure is a government claim, made by the minister overseeing the reform, rather than an independently audited service-level statistic, and it is not clear from available reporting whether it applies uniformly across all 14 agencies represented at the centre or to a narrower set of the most common permit types. Access to the centre's fast-track processes has also historically carried minimum investment thresholds, commonly cited at USD 100,000 for Tanzanian investors and USD 500,000 for foreign investors under the predecessor Tanzania Investment Centre's rules, though it is not yet clear from public guidance whether those specific thresholds carried over unchanged under the 2025 Act's registration requirement for all investors. What is clearer is the direction of travel. Tanzania has moved, within about eighteen months, from two separate investment and export-zone agencies to a single authority explicitly built around a consolidated, partly digitised service centre, backed by a legal guarantee against uncompensated nationalisation and a specific, if government-sourced, processing-time claim that officials are now repeating to international investors directly. Whether the 24-hour figure holds up as investment volume scales toward the $15 billion 2026 target is the test the reform has set for itself. FAQ What is TISEZA's One Stop Facilitation Centre? It is a consolidated service centre, run by the Tanzania Investment and Special Economic Zones Authority, that brings together 14 government institutions, covering company registration, tax, work and residence permits, land access, utilities, environmental certification and other approvals, into a single point of contact for investors. How much faster does the government say the process has become? Tanzania's Minister of State for Planning and Investment, Prof Kitila Mkumbo, said in June 2026 that investors can now obtain necessary permits within 24 hours, down from a process that previously took several weeks. This is a government-stated figure rather than an independently audited service benchmark. When was TISEZA created, and why? TISEZA launched on 1 July 2025, merging the former Tanzania Investment Centre, established in 1997, and the Export Processing Zones Authority, established in 2006, under the Investment and Special Economic Zones Act, No. 6 of 2025, to consolidate investment promotion and Special Economic Zone oversight under one authority. Does the new law protect investors from nationalisation? Yes. The 2025 Act explicitly prohibits nationalisation without prompt, fair and adequate compensation, a provision aimed at reducing expropriation risk for both domestic and foreign investors. How much investment has TISEZA registered so far? TISEZA recorded 201 projects worth TZS 6.18 trillion between July and September 2025, followed by 278 projects worth USD 3.16 billion in the fourth quarter of 2025, more than double the same quarter a year earlier, with 71,412 jobs projected and China as the leading source of foreign direct investment. What are Tanzania's investment targets going forward? TISEZA and Tanzania's Ministry of Investment have set a target of USD 15 billion in investment for 2026, part of a broader goal of USD 50 billion cumulatively by 2030. Is the One Stop Facilitation Centre only for large investors? Historically, fast-track access under the predecessor Tanzania Investment Centre required a minimum investment of USD 100,000 for Tanzanian investors and USD 500,000 for foreign investors. It is not yet clear from public TISEZA guidance whether those specific thresholds remain unchanged under the 2025 Act's requirement that all investors register with the authority.