Tanzania will invest $30 million dollars to revive the Arusha-based General Tyre East Africa.

Minister for Industry, Commerce and Investment Charles Mwijage said the government will pump the funds through the state-run- National Development Corporation (NDC) to revive the plant to an initial capacity to produce 320,000 tyres a year, mainly for heavy duty vehicles.

“The plan is to hire some 300 people to start with and produce approximately 320,000 tyres annually as operations start,” Mr Mwijage said.

He said the funds will be allocated in the next financial year to overhaul the outdated machines.

This means the state is set to run the factory itself as part of national plans to guarantee development of industries.

In 2013, Tanzania announced that it would inject $20 million into the factory, but that plan was shelved due to a contractual obligation between the government and Continental AG, the firm mandated to run General Tyre East Africa.

READ: Tanzania to inject $20m to revive General Tyre

In August last year, the state regained ownership of General Tyre East Africa after it purchased 26 shares owned by the Germany-based Company at a price of $1 million.

READ: Tyre firm GTEA to be revived under state-owned corporation

Chief Secretary Ombeni Sefue said after purchasing the shares, the government now owns the firm 100 per cent, paving the way for the resumption of tyre production at full capacity.

The business blueprint entails an all-inclusive survey of the tyres market in the East African region, identification of key employees who worked until the closure of the plant in 2009 to produce high quality tyres and revival the rubber plantations in Muheza, Tanga, Kilombero, Morogoro and Zanzibar.

The revival of General Tyre would offer a quick fix, not only for the country, but also for East Africa in general, which imports the bulk of its tyres from China, Japan, India and Dubai. The cheap imports have been blamed for the increase in road accidents.

Police reports blame most of these road accidents on reckless driving and tyre bursts.

Chinese tyres are gaining popularity in several African markets. Many African countries prefer to import low-priced Chinese tyres rather than the expensive European and American brands. As a result, China has emerged as a leading exporter of tyres to African countries.