MOROGORO: DEPUTY Minister for Industry and Trade, Mr Dennis Londo, has urged the Business Registrations and Licensing Agency (BRELA) to strengthen monitoring of company registrations to identify cases in which Tanzanians use their names and identification documents to register companies on behalf of foreign nationals.
He said the practice could undermine government efforts to protect jobs and ensure that Tanzanians benefited from business opportunities in the country.
Mr Londo made the remarks yesterday in Morogoro while closing a meeting of BRELA’s Workers’ Council.
He stressed the importance of the agency using its systems and expertise to ensure that Tanzanians participated fully in economic activities.
“BRELA, you have the systems, capacity and expertise to help protect Tanzanians in their participation in business.
Otherwise, they will be unable to compete due to interference from foreigners who have greater financial resources, skills and technology,” he said.
He added that effective strategies were needed to prevent foreigners from taking over business activities that Tanzanians were capable of undertaking.
“We must take responsibility and put in place strategies to protect Tanzanians and ensure that all activities that Tanzanians are capable of carrying out are not taken over by foreigners,” Mr Londo stressed.
In a related development, Mr Londo directed BRELA management to work with the Prime Minister’s Office – Regional Administration and Local Government (PMO-RALG) to ensure that small and medium-sized businesses were formalised in accordance with established licensing procedures.
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He explained that Class B business licences were issued by district, municipal and city councils, rather than BRELA.
The licences cover businesses that operate on a smaller scale and do not conduct activities at national or international level.
Mr Londo said BRELA had an important role to play in implementing the National Development Vision 2050, particularly through promoting value addition, expanding the industrial economy and protecting employment opportunities for Tanzanians.
BRELA Chief Executive Officer, Mr Godfrey Nyaisa, said the agency would continue improving service delivery through electronic systems and collaborating with relevant authorities to facilitate the issuance of Class B business licences.
He said BRELA would also continue reviewing laws and regulations governing business operations to improve the country’s business and investment environment.
During the meeting, Mr Londo launched BRELA SACCOS Limited, a savings and credit cooperative society established to improve the welfare of the agency’s employees.
Mr Nyaisa said the cooperative would promote a savings culture, strengthen financial discipline and expand employees’ access to financial services.
Meanwhile, Representative of the Chairperson of BRELA’s Advisory Board from the Ministry, Mr Elias Kalist, said the meeting provided an important platform for assessing the agency’s performance during the 2025/2026 financial year.
He said participants also reviewed achievements and challenges and discussed strategies to improve service delivery and employees’ welfare.