Tanzania Gold Exports Increased 44% in Year Through February

Tanzania, which vies with Mali to be Africa’s third-biggest gold producer, posted a 44 percent increase in earnings from exports of the metal in the year through February, the central bank said.

Revenue from shipments increased $2.3 billion from $1.6 billion in the same period a year earlier, the Dar es Salaam- based bank said in a statement on its website today. Exports of gold and tourism receipts helped increase total exports to $6.8 billion from $6.1 billion, offsetting a decline in agricultural- commodity exports, it said.

Imports increased 39 percent to $12.6 billion as the country bought more oil to feed its thermal-power generators. The bank also attributed the increase to purchases of machinery for oil- and gas-exploration projects. BG Group Plc (BG/) and Ophir Energy Plc (OPHR), both based in London, this month announced discoveries of natural gas off the Tanzanian coast that may take the country’s resources to 50 trillion cubic feet.

The deficit on the East African nation’s current account, the broadest measure of trade in goods and services, widened to $5.2 billion in the period from $2.2 billion previously, it said. Reserves amounted to $3.5 billion, sufficient to cover 3.7 months of projected imports, while the country’s external debt stood at $9.8 billion.

Following are agricultural exports in the 12 months through February over the past two years:  

($ mln)
               2012     2011
Tobacco        37       40.9
Coffee         21.7     19.2
Cotton         11.1     10.9
Cashew Nuts    12.3     20.5
Tea             8.0      7.4
Cloves          9.9      1.1