MINING INVESTMENT AND ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT Case Study of Gold Mining Investment in Tanzania

This study assesses mining investment benefits to Tanzania economy. Qualitative research methodology was used for this study. The study found out that there are both positive and negative outcomes to the economic development following the operations of mines in the communities. Mining investment is the major contributor to Tanzanian economy in terms of GDP, employment level, government revenue, and community development support especially of those surrounding mining communities, However, it was observed that, despite its contribution to national economy, there are still some remaining challenges in the sector especially on community perspective regarding the issues of employment and direct benefits from these investors. People are still unsatisfied in those areas and they consider the investment in the sector not to be beneficial to them. The study concludes that, if gold mining investment did not exist, there would be slower economic growth of a country because there is no other industry than extractive (mining) with the potential of making greater contributions to taxes, employment and foreign exchange. In order to improve this situation, study recommend for extra efforts to be devoted to formulating good policy governing mining investment and these policies should favor both the country (government), investors and the mining surrounding communities.