Zanzibar’s New Investment Scheme the Way Forward
Zanzibar has been a semi-autonomous part of the United Republic of Tanzania since April 26, 1964 when it joined the thitherto Republic of Tanganyika to form the United Republic of Tanzania, known simply as Tanzania.
Under the Union pact, Zanzibar is partially self-governing within the larger political Union, complete with a Revolutionary Government and control of its internal affairs, including socioeconomic development for The Isles and its people.
That is why and how the (Zanzibar) government has independently come up with a game-changing programme with a raft of mouth-watering incentives designed to pull in foreign direct investment (FDI).
The new investments programme became effective at the beginning of the current 2021/22 financial year on July 1, 2021.
Very briefly, it allows foreign investors in real estate – and a select few other economic sectors, including the hospitality industry – to invest and live in Zanzibar under special, most favourable conditions, including friendly taxation and immigration regimes.
Especially intended to more fully and effectively tap the huge idle potential in the Isles’ estates sector of the economy, the programme is focused on, and geared at, foreign investors in real estate, including developers, renters and other commercial stakeholders-cum-users.
Apparently, the new FDI programme is based upon studies, adoption and adaptation of similar programmes in the relatively more developed economies in general, and the real estate sectors in particular, of Dubai (nominal GDP in 2019: $421.14 billion), Singapore ($372.06 billion), Mauritius ($10.91 billion) and Zanzibar ($3,750 million only).
Revitalise the economy
According to the executive director of the Zanzibar Investments Promotion Authority (Zipa), Mr Shariff Ali Shariff, the new FDIs programme is intended to revitalise and revamp the Zanzibar economy.
This is following the new coronavirus pandemic code-named ‘Covid-19’ which has been ravaging humanity and economies at the national and global levels.
Hence the real need for Zanzibar – and, indeed, other economies, including that of Tanzania Mainland – to come up with new programmes that are designed to functionally revamp their economies which are still floundering in the devastating quagmire of the Covid-19 malady.
As the Zipa executive director Shariff Ali Shariff pointed out, “growth of real estate depends on two kinds of investors: developers and foreign buyers. The two are dependent on each other for expansion of the sector … and we saw a gap that was yet to be filled in the real estate sector in Zanzibar”.
When all is said and done, we find ourselves agreeing with the Zipa chief and other well-wishers of Zanzibar’s socioeconomic development on this new move.
Indeed, the programme is in total agreement with the Isles’ 2018 Investments Act on Strategic Investments Status (SIS) governing special projects, and its effective implementation is the way to go forward.
By Citizen.
