The Central Bank of Tanzania has been ordered by President John Magufuli to create a gold reserve.
This is part of measures being adopted by the East African country to curb gold smuggling and build reserves to stabilize its currency the Tanzania Shilling.
The directive is coming on the back of the appointment of the country’s third Mining Minister Dotto Biteko.
Tanzania’s mining sector contributes around 4.8% of Gross Domestic Product in the midst of increased mining projects.
Mining in the east African country makes up more than 50% of its total exports, of which a large part comes from gold.
It currently has gold reserves of 45 million ounces, generating revenue of over a billion dollars.
Police in Tanzania last week arrested some suspects for trying to smuggle minerals worth $13 million in the northern region of Mwanza.
Although Tanzania is the leading producer of gold in East Africa, it is not the top exporter of the precious commodity.
Source: Africafeeds.com
