The race to capture more value from Africa’s mineral wealth is moving into the processing space, with Tanzania positioning itself as a regional hub for heavy mineral sands. In Pangani, Tanga, Chinese company Shenghe Resources has commenced construction of a major Heavy Mineral Sands processing facility, marking a significant step in Tanzania’s push to move beyond raw mineral exports and build greater domestic value addition.
Shenghe Resources has mineral sands interests across Mozambique, South Africa and Madagascar, making its decision to establish Tanzania as a strategic processing base significant for the country’s ambitions to strengthen its position within Africa’s mineral value chain. The facility is expected to create employment and industrial opportunities while supporting technology and skills transfer. It could also broaden government revenues and local economic participation as more mineral processing activity is retained within Tanzania.
Speaking during a visit to Shenghe Resources’ operations in China, Minister for Minerals Anthony Mavunde welcomed the investment as aligned with the Government’s mineral value-addition agenda. Mavunde also urged the company to accelerate construction and complete outstanding compensation processes to keep implementation on schedule.
Shenghe Resources Chairman Xie Bing commended the Tanzanian Government, under President Samia Suluhu Hassan, for creating what he described as a conducive investment environment. The project comes as competition intensifies among African mining jurisdictions to capture a larger share of the economic activity generated by their mineral resources.
The opportunity for Tanzania extends beyond hosting another processing facility. Establishing regional processing capacity could strengthen demand for supporting services, infrastructure, technical skills and logistics while creating a platform for deeper participation in cross-border mineral supply chains. Tanzania is positioning itself to capture a larger share of that value chain.
