St Petersburg. President Samia Suluhu Hassan on June 5, 2026 led the Tanzania-Russia Business and Investment Forum in St Petersburg, marking a pivotal moment in the bilateral economic relations between the two nations.
The forum, held alongside the prestigious 29th St Petersburg International Economic Forum (SPIEF 2026), served as a strategic platform to showcase Tanzania’s emerging market opportunities to Russian policymakers, industrialists, and institutional investors.
This economic engagement forms a critical component of President Samia’s historic three-day state visit to the Russian Federation, which is the first visit by a Tanzanian Head of State to the country since Mwalimu Julius Nyerere’s landmark diplomatic mission in 1969.
Addressing an audience of international business executives, financial institutions, and investment promotion agencies, President Samia outlined Tanzania’s structural economic reforms aimed at enhancing the domestic business environment.
She emphasised the nation’s strategic geographical positioning as a gateway to East and Southern Africa, highlighting the potential for heightened collaboration in key growth sectors including energy, mining, agriculture, manufacturing, infrastructure development, and tourism.
Official data indicates that bilateral trade between Tanzania and Russia has experienced a steady upward trajectory, registering a growth of approximately 20 to 25 per cent over the past year alone.
Between 2020 and 2025, trade volumes surged by over 72 per cent, prompting both governments to establish a strategic target to double total trade value by 2030.
Russian entities currently maintain 70 registered investment projects in Tanzania valued at $434.22 million, which support over 3,000 domestic jobs.
The St Petersburg forum is designed to catalyze this baseline, with Tanzanian officials projecting a potential threefold increase in direct Russian investments over the medium term, particularly within large-scale energy processing, fertiliser manufacturing, and mineral value-addition initiatives.
The Tanzanian delegation to St Petersburg includes the Minister of State in the President’s Office [Planning and Investment], Prof Kitila Mkumbo, alongside the Director General of the Tanzania Investment and Special Economic Zones Authority (Tiseza), Gilead Teri.
Their presence underscores the administration’s focus on attracting capital into specialized industrial zones and securing technology transfers to improve production efficiency across domestic sectors.
The forum follows comprehensive bilateral talks held at the Kremlin in Moscow between President Samia and Russian President Vladimir Putin.
During those deliberations, both heads of state committed to deepening cooperation in higher education, transport logistics, and information and communication technology (ICT), with several formal bilateral agreements concluded to solidify the updated economic partnership.
