Tanzania's inaugural tea auction in Dar es Salaam poses a direct challenge to the Mombasa Tea Auction, previously the sole auction center in East Africa. The auction, held at the Millennium Towers and presided over by Tanzania's Agriculture Minister, features both Direct Market and Auction mechanisms, aiming to enhance transparency and fair pricing for farmers. The Tea Board of Tanzania anticipates the new platform becoming a regional hub, offering a cost-sensitive alternative for tea-producing countries in East Africa. Dar es Salaam and Tanga Port will facilitate transportation, reducing costs by approximately 50 percent, benefitting players in the value chain and enticing more Tanzanians to engage in tea cultivation.
The launch of Tanzania's online tea auction platform aligns with a ten-year industry strategy to boost dry tea production. Despite global tea price downturns and stagnant production, the auction is expected to impact growers positively, redirecting transportation costs to enhance productivity. The move marks a significant step towards strengthening Tanzania's tea subsector, fostering economic growth and challenging the dominance of the Mombasa Tea Auction in the region. Tanzania Agriculture Minister reported that revenue collected from tea production and auction in 2019 and 2020 was $34.248 million, $39.001 million in 2020 and 2021, $34.589 million in 2021 and 22, and $12.24 million in 2022 and 23.