Artisanal and small-scale gold mining and trade in Tanzania pre to post independence: A review

Abstract

Appraisal of gold production and trade via Artisanal and Small-Scale Mining (ASM) in Tanzania has been achieved through assessing the literature and onsite interviews. Authors settle on the understanding that ASM is extricated to Industrial Mining (IM) upon funding, informality, and applications of technology. However, ASM has been embraced in Tanzania pre-to post-independence based on two facts: i) its gold production in the primordial period made a gateway to export trade, and ii) ASM was a feasible means of gold production in periods of insufficient infrastructures and geo-political and economic challenges. Gold produced via ASM worth £363,084,500 equivalent to Sh. 1,194.3 billion (in present-day values) was recorded during the German colonial administration (1886-1920). For the British colonial administration (1920-1961), gold worth of £169,854,560 equivalent to Sh. 558.7 billion was produced. Smuggling and illegal markets obscured the amount of gold produced and traded immediately after independence. However, two years after the establishment of the local mineral markets (2019 – 2021), Government’s collection from ASM gold sales rose from Sh. 61.53 billion to Sh.154.49 billion making 151.08% increase. In 2021, gold ASM contributed 2.6% to the GDP implying that, ASM holds a great potential of contributing significantly to the social-economic development of the resource-rich developing countries. Tanzania has worked to formalize ASM legally, and through the establishment of demonstration centers, demarcating sites, oversight, and mineral markets. Nevertheless, lack of access to loans because of bankers’ stringent conditions deters its growth. Therefore, it is imminent for scholars to research on appropriate mechanisms of ASM financing, and for the government to institute policy changes that will recognize Primary Mining Licenses (PMLs) as assets, to help alleviate the problems with lending practices and enhance ASM’s economic contribution.