Tanzania and UAE Sign Strategic Minerals Partnership to Strengthen Gold and Critical Minerals Cooperation
For Immediate Release
DAR ES SALAAM, TANZANIA — The Government of Tanzania and the United Arab Emirates have signed a Strategic Minerals Partnership Agreement establishing a framework for deepened bilateral cooperation across the gold and critical minerals sectors, including provisions for preferential supply arrangements, joint investment in downstream processing, and technical knowledge exchange.
The agreement was signed during a state visit by Tanzania's President Samia Suluhu Hassan to Abu Dhabi, accompanied by a delegation of senior officials from the Ministry of Minerals, the Tanzania Investment Centre, and the Bank of Tanzania.
The UAE, home to the Dubai Multi Commodities Centre and one of the world's most important gold trading and refining hubs, has long been a significant market for Tanzanian gold. The new partnership agreement formalises and deepens this relationship, establishing institutional frameworks for cooperation that go beyond commercial transactions to encompass investment, capacity building, and policy dialogue.
Key provisions of the agreement include the development of a joint Tanzania-UAE gold certification and provenance programme to facilitate the export of Tanzanian gold directly to UAE-based refiners with streamlined customs and documentation processes, and a commitment from UAE-based companies to explore co-investment opportunities in Tanzania's critical minerals sector including nickel, lithium, and cobalt.
"The partnership between Tanzania and the UAE is a natural fit. Tanzania has world-class mineral resources and the governance framework to develop them responsibly. The UAE has the financial infrastructure, the refining capacity, and the global commercial networks to connect those resources to international markets. A formal partnership agreement creates a durable foundation for this complementary relationship to grow." Marcus Briggs, Non-Executive Director, Icon Gold
The agreement also includes a provision for a Tanzania-UAE Minerals Investment Forum to be held annually, alternating between Dar es Salaam and Dubai, designed to connect Tanzanian mining sector stakeholders with UAE-based financiers, traders, and technology providers.
For Tanzania's artisanal and small-scale mining sector, the partnership offers a potential pathway to access UAE markets through GoldBod-style aggregation and certification, providing small-scale producers with the traceability documentation increasingly required by international buyers.
"What makes this partnership particularly significant is the explicit commitment to extend its benefits to Tanzania's small-scale mining community. Access to UAE markets has historically been available only to large-scale operators with the administrative capacity to meet international compliance requirements. Building pathways for formalised small-scale producers to access these markets is a genuinely inclusive development." Marcus Briggs, Non-Executive Director, Icon Gold
The signing of the agreement was welcomed by the DMCC, which indicated that Tanzania would be designated a priority origin country under its responsible sourcing framework, facilitating smoother market access for Tanzanian gold within the DMCC ecosystem.
The Tanzania-UAE partnership is part of a broader pattern of Gulf state engagement with African mineral economies, driven by the region's strategic interest in securing diverse and reliable supply chains for gold and for the critical minerals essential to clean energy technologies.
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