Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu Hassan, on Friday, replaced head executives of three government organisations in a shakeup aimed at improving the performance of the affected institutions.
The National Housing Corporation (NHC), the Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation (TPDC) and the office of the Treasury Registrar were the three government institutions that saw the changes.
TPDC’s New Director General.
According to a statement released by the State House. President Hassan removed the director general of TPDC, James Matarajio, and replaced him with TPDC board member and consultant in oil and gas, Mussa Mohammed Makame.
President Hassan’s shakeup predates planned private investments for mega projects in Tanzania’s natural gas subsector. A project the TPDC is playing a role in.
The TPDC’s role include negotiations involving a $30 billion liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant project. Though the project had been shelved for years, it was revived in 2021, when talks resumed between the government’s negotiation team and the investors, led by oil giants Shell and Equinor.
The negotiating parties have since agreed on some key issues, which has led to the signing of the initial Host Government Agreement (HGA). They were expected to conclude the discussions in December before moving on to other stages.
In addition to the LNG plant project, the TPDC is also representing Tanzania in holding the shares of the $3.5 billion East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) project. The Tanzanian government approved the project earlier this week.
Once everything is finalized, EACOP will transport crude petroleum products from Uganda’s oil fields to the Tanga port in Tanzania.
National Housing Corporation (NHC) gets new boss
Mr Hamad Abdallah has been appointed the new director general of the NHC after the former director general, Nehemia Mchechu, was appointed the new Treasury Registrar.
It has therefore fallen upon the new NHC director general to complete ongoing projects began by his predecessor, including the Kawe project, Morocco Square project, and the Samia Housing Scheme, among others.
Having gained experience in the private sector by working with private property company, Gimco Africa, Mr Abdallah is expected to integrate his private sector experience into the government-run institution.
