Tanzania is inviting investors in grape farming and wine production, particularly in the country’s leading grape-growing region of Dodoma.
Rosemary Senyamule, the Dodoma regional commissioner, made the invitation to the investors when she held talks with the Norwegian Minister for International Development, Anne Beathe Tvinnereim, and her delegation in the capital Dodoma.
“Dodoma boasts of the best ever grapes but there is no reliable market. We need investors to capture this opportunity,” said Senyamule.
Tanzanian wine industry
She said the government of Tanzania under the administration of President Samia Suluhu Hassan has set a conducive environment for investments, especially in agriculture value addition. For her part, Tvinnereim expressed her country’s readiness to support Tanzania in various areas, including food security, and climate change mitigation and adaptation.
Tanzanian wine industry is based entirely in Dodoma Region and is the second largest producer of wine in Sub-Saharan Africa after South Africa. Compared to the rest of the world, the history of wine in Tanzania is very recent and dates back to just a few years before independence. The most common grape varietals in the Dodoma wine region are Chenin Blanc, Syrah, Cabernet Sauvignon and a variety named for a Dodoma sub-region, Makutupora. Initially wine production and grape growing was limited to missionaries, however, in 1969 the government entered the market with the formation of the Dodoma Wine company.
