Tanzania’s gas boom that never was – when local hopes are dashed by global realities
A flashy new administrative office opened in Mtwara in 2013 to serve vocational training centres throughout Southern Tanzania. PHOTO | GRAHAMCOLE via THE CONVERSATION
Rising international commodity prices can shape or reshape the fortunes of places. When large mining and oil and gas prospectors suddenly show an interest, a remote area can become a resource frontier – a place that’s far from the socioeconomic centre of a country but important to its economy.
High commodity prices throughout the late 2000s and early 2010s resulted in new regions of the world being explored for hydrocarbons. One of these areas was off the shore of southern Tanzania, in Mtwara.
