Tanzania has defended its ban on coal imports and warned smugglers of dire consequences.

The Minister for Energy and Minerals Prof Sospeter Muhongo accused local cement manufacturers seeking to import coal from other countries, particularly South Africa, of being driven by the 10 per cent commission paid to them.  

The minister was on a tour of Ngaka coal mine in Ruvuma region, about 900 kilometre from Dar es Salaam, with a group of stakeholders. 

“The government will never allow importation of coal while our local mines have tonnes of coal deposits that they hesitate to produce because there is no market. This is the government decision and it will never change. By the way, from now on, we are going to use Interpol to catch those who attempt to smuggle coal,” said Prof Muhongo.

Prof Muhongo said that during the just ended parliamentary deliberations in Dodoma he was approached by several Members of Parliament who were part of the lobby organised by cement manufacturers in the country to persuade him to withdraw the coal import ban put in place in August. 

Dangote Cement CEO Harpreet Duggal told Chama cha Mapinduzi leaders who visited the cement plant in Mtwara in October, that their original plan was to use natural gas as a source of energy instead of coal, but they resorted to coal after realising natural gas was more expensive.

Mr Duggal also said that coal from local producers was more expensive than South Africa’s, a claim denied by Ngaka coal mine manager. 

Ngaka coal mine is owned by Tancoal Energy Ltd, a joint venture between the National Development Corporation of Tanzania with a 30 per cent stake, and Intra Energy (T) Ltd of Australia with a 70 per cent stake. 

Data from IndexMundi, a statistics online service provider showed that the October price of coal in South Africa was $83 per tonne but there is no information on the coal price in Tanzania.