Tanzania: Uganda, Tanzania Seal Deal to Develop Tanga Into Regional Energy Hub

What the report says

Uganda and Tanzania have backed a memorandum of understanding to advance plans for a Tanga Regional Energy Hub in Tanzania, according to AllAfrica’s report of The Independent (Kampala). The agreement was endorsed by President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni and President Samia Suluhu Hassan and signed by the Uganda National Oil Company, the Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation and Vitol Bahrain E.C. in Dar es Salaam on Thursday.

The proposed hub would add refining, storage, logistics, petrochemicals and other energy infrastructure along Tanzania’s Indian Ocean coast, building on the East African Crude Oil Pipeline. Officials cited the project as part of a broader push to shift the region away from relying mainly on crude exports and toward more domestic value addition and industrial activity. The article says government estimates place potential investment at more than US$20 billion if the plan is fully implemented.

Tanzanian and Ugandan energy officials framed the project as complementary to Uganda’s planned Hoima oil refinery rather than a rival. The report also says the cooperation builds on earlier bilateral agreements linked to EACOP and wider East African Community integration efforts, including shared infrastructure and harmonized energy markets.

The article notes that the project remains at an early stage and will still need studies, financing, regulation and environmental scrutiny. It also places the plan in the context of wider debate over large fossil-fuel projects, including concerns from environmental groups and financiers about emissions, biodiversity and community impacts.