Trust: Leaked Tanzania gas contract stirs fears that government is bilked of natural resource wealth

A leaked contract showing ExxonMobil and Norway’s Statoil will pay Tanzania no more than 50 percent of the profits from a natural gas field in the Indian Ocean has stirred a furore in the east African country.

Politicians and citizens had expected their country would get up to 85 percent of the profits from the offshore gas field that has been under exploration since 2000. Now the headlines in The Citizen, Dar es Salaam’s biggest daily newspaper, declare: “$1 billion loss: Who’s Fooling Tanzanians?”

The controversy has exposed how secret government deals can stir fear and suspicion, especially over a natural resource that the International Monetary Fund estimates could bring $5-6 billion a year into Tanzania’s coffers by 2029 – equivalent to half its budget and more than enough money to free the country from dependency on foreign aid.

Tanzania has been promised riches before, and the new row has echoes of previous deals that have left a sour taste.
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