Different development policies and strategies have informed and shaped the direction of Tanzania’s investment policy. Key among them is the Tanzania Development Vision 2025, developed in the late 1990s. The vision aims to achieve a strong competitive middle-income economy by creating sound macroeconomic policies, adequate and reliable infrastructure, quality education, effective utilisation of domestic resources, higher productivity, and strengthening the capacity to anticipate and respond to external changes effectively. The vision has been accompanied by several other initiatives including the formation of Tanzania Investment Centre (TIC) 1997, Business Sector Programme Support (2008- 2013), First Five-Year Development Plan (2011/2012- 2015/2016), Second Five-Year Development Plan (2016/17–2020/21), Blueprint for Regulatory Reforms 2018, and the utilisation of the existing public-private engagement platforms (national, regional and district business councils). Indeed, Tanzania has remained an attractive destination for foreign direct investments (FDIs); it counts among the ten most prominent FDI recipients in Africa. The country’s commitment to implementing sound macroeconomic policies, abundant natural resources, and efforts to improve the country’s business environment accounts for FDI receipts. This policy brief outlines some key findings from a survey of Nordic firms operating in Tanzania conducted in October and November 2019. The survey comprised of quantitative and qualitative assessments of perceptions of 105 sampled firms on the business environment. 65 firms responded to the quantitative survey, and a snowball sample of 30 firms yielded 60 per cent response to a qualitative survey.
