Tanzania targets 70,000 tonnes of sugar imports to fill shortage

Tanzanian Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa said on Tuesday the government will import 70,000 tonnes of sugar to fill shortage of the commodity facing the east African nation.

Majaliwa told a news conference in the commercial capital Dar es Salaam that out of the 70,000 tonnes of sugar, 11,957 tonnes have already arrived in the country and will start to be distributed beginning Wednesday.

He said of the 11,957 tonnes, 2,000 tonnes of the commodity will be distributed to northern zone regions, 3,000 tonnes to Lake Zone regions, 2,000 tonnes to southern zone regions, 2,000 tonnes to southern highland regions, and 2,000 tonnes to central zone regions.

"Another batch of 24,000 tonnes will arrive in the country on Friday and will start to be distributed across the country next week," said Majaliwa.

He assured Tanzanians that the government will do all it could to make sure that there was no shortage of the commodity.

Shortage of sugar experienced in recent months has pushed the price of the commodity.

Last week, President John Magufuli ordered local traders hoarding sugar to distribute them to the market lest they faced punitive measures.

Last month, Majaliwa said the government had imported 100,000 tonnes of sugar to curb the ongoing shortage of the commodity.

He said the actual demand of sugar in the country was 420,000 tonnes annually while local sugar factories could produce a total of 320,000 tonnes of the commodity annually.