The Vice President of the United Republic of Tanzania Hon. Dr. Philip Mpango has invited investors to cooperate with Tanzania in investing in Geothermal energy available in various areas of the country.

The Vice President made the call during the opening of the 10th Africa Global Warming Conference held at the Julius Nyerere International Conference Center in Dar es Salaam. He has mentioned some important areas that will produce geothermal energy including Ngozi (60 Megawatts), Kyejo – Mbaka (60 Megawatts), Songwe (5-35 Megawatts), Natron (60 Megawatts) and Luhoi (5 Megawatts).

The Vice President has said that Tanzania is ready for investment in the geothermal sector due to having peace and stability, a good attractive environment, political stability and strong policies under structural reforms through the philosophy of the four R's of the President Dr. Samia Solutions Hassan which are reforms, rebuilding, reconciliation and resilience.

In the same way, the Vice President has given an opinion to member countries with geothermal resources passing through the rift valley (ARGeo) to cooperate with coordinated efforts in exploring geothermal areas and finding the necessary investment in using this important resource. He said it is important to strengthen the exchange of knowledge, best practices, technology as well as design and implement regional research programs.

The Vice President also said that it is good for each member country to have an institution that manages and guides the development of geothermal energy, including the right legal and regulatory systems that can facilitate the participation of the private sector.

In addition, he said that due to the national government budgets not being sufficient to cover the large investments needed in the development phase of geothermal projects, it is important for member countries with geothermal resources that are traversed by the rift valley (ARGeo) to have regular special negotiations with Banks International development such as the AfDB and the Asian Infrastructure Development Bank thus make private investment in the use of geothermal resources more attractive.

The Vice President has said that currently, Tanzania has completed the initial stages of geothermal resource research in five areas along the rift valley, and has begun drilling wells in one of the areas located in Lake Ngozi on the western side of the lake. Investigations are also being carried out in strategic projects which are Kyejo-Mbaka, Luhoi and Natron. He mentioned another success is the increase in the number of Tanzanians with geothermal expertise and the purchase of drilling rigs.

The seven-day conference has the slogan "Accelerating the Development of Africa's Geothermal Resources" involving a total of 800 participants from 21 countries in the world.