THE ALLOCATION OF TOURIST HUNTING BLOCKS FOR THE PERIOD OF 2018 – 2022 ANNOUNCED BY THE GOVERNMENT OF TANZANIA

On 17th May 2017, The Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism through Tanzania Wildlife Management Authority (TAWA) invited applications from qualified applicants for the allocation of Tourist Hunting Blocks for the period starting 1st July 2018 to 31st December 2022; the invitation is made under Regulation 8 (1) of the Wildlife Conservation (Tourist Hunting) Regulations of 2015. According to the announcement, there are fifty-six (56) hunting blocks available within Game Reserves (GR’s), Game Controlled Areas (GCA’s) and Open Areas (OAs). A company interested to apply can only be allocated up to five (5) hunting blocks of which shall be of mixed categories.

QUALIFICATION FOR ALLOCATION OF THE HUNTING BLOCK:

In accordance with the Tourist Hunting Regulations, no person shall be considered for allocation of a hunting block unless he/she fulfills the following requirements:

• Has a company intending to engage in hunting animals and registered with the Registrar of Companies in Tanzania;
• At least one of the Directors should have five (5) years experience in wildlife based business and conservation in Tanzania; and
• The shares to be owned by the citizens shall not be less than twenty five percent of the subscribed shares;

Each application for allocation of hunting block should be submitted to the Tanzania Wildlife Management Authority Head Office (Headquarters) together with:

1. A copy of the Memorandum and Articles of Association of the hunting company;
2. A copy of the Certificate of Incorporation;
3. Copy of the Tax Identification Number Certificate (TIN) and Value Added Tax (VAT) Certificate;
4. An application fee as set out in table 1 herein; and
5. Four passport size photographs for all Directors and Shareholders;

APPLICANTS FOR THE HUNTING BLOCK ALLOCATION SHALL ALSO BE ASSESSED ON THE FOLLOWING CRITERIA:

In order for the Applicant to qualify for allocation of hunting block he must have the following criteria:

1. Tanzania owned hunting company, proof of the followings:
   1. Having a suitable registered office premises for carrying out the hunting business;
   2. Proof of having a fleet of not less than two Four Wheels Drive (4WD) pick up motor vehicles in in good running condition of not more than three years since registration in Tanzania, registered under the Company’s name and comprehensively insured and inspected (Road Worthiness) report from the Police or SUMATRA;
   3. Radio Communication Frequency License for VHF;
   4. At least six big tents;
   5. Two Refrigerators and two freezers;
   6. Two Generators of 5KVA and above;
   7. Beds and other necessary furniture’s; In case the applicant doesn’t have the above listed equipment shall be required to produce a Bank Bond or Guarantee to the tune of at least USD 300 ,000 as a commitment for the purchase of the equipment within three months after allocation of the hunting block.
   8. Acceptable Business Plan indicating:
      • Executive Summary;
      • Company Description;
      • Product or Service;
      • Market Analysis Summary;
      • Strategy and Implementation Summary;
      • Management Team; and
      • Financial Analysis.
   9. Good Track Record with regard to payment of fees and adherence to the Wildlife Conservation Act No. 5 of 2009 for currently operating operators;
   10. Reference of any good business record;
   11. Good Track Record of adherence to payment of Government Taxes and other statutory payments;
   12. Experience in the Tourist Hunting Industry;
   13. Declaration on level of Commitment to support Wildlife Conservation (i.e. Community Development Projects, Anti Poaching Activities and Hunting Block Development);
   14. Evidence of payment of a non-refundable application fee (Bank Pay-in Slip) made to TAWA –SELOUS GAME RESERVE; ACCOUNT NUMBER: 012105021353 at NATIONAL BANK OF COMMERCE– SAMORA BRANCH, DAR ES SALAAM;
   15. Application for each block will be made on a separate form and relevant fees MUST be paid as shown in the table 1 below:
   TABLE 1: APPLICATION FEES AS PER CATEGORY OF A HUNTING BLOCKS/NCATEGORY OF HUNTING BLOCKSAPPLICATION FEE (USD) PER EACH CATEGGORY1I5,0002II2,0003III1,0004IV1,0005V100
2. Foreign owned hunting company (100%) or a Company that is not fully owned by Citizens (Partnership)
   1. A suitable registered office premises for carrying hunting business;
   2. Evidence that the business is registered and certified by Tanzania Investment Centre;
   3. Proof of having fleet of not less than five (5) new Four Wheels Drive (4WD) pick up motor-vehicles, registered under the company’s name, comprehensively insured and inspected (Road Worthiness) report from the Police or SUMATRA;
   4. Radio Communication Frequency License for VHF;
   5. At least twelve tents;
   6. Five Refrigerators and Fiver Freezers;
   7. Two Generators of 5KVA each and above;
   8. Beds and other necessary furniture or in case the applicant doesn’t have the above listed equipment shall be required to produce a Bank Guarantee to the tune of at least USD 1,000,000 as a commitment for the purchase of the equipments within three months after allocation of the hunting block;
   9. Acceptable business plan indicating:
      • Executive Summary;
      • Company Description(Profile);
      • Product or Service;
      • Market Analysis Summary;
      • Strategy and Implementation Summary;
      • Management Team; and
      • Financial Analysis.
   10. Reference of any good business record;
   11. Good Track Record of adherence to payment of Government Taxes and other statutory payments;
   12. Experience in the Tourist Hunting Industry;
   13. Declaration on level of Commitment to support Wildlife Conservation (i.e. Community Development Projects, Anti Poaching Activities and Hunting Block Development);
   14. Evidence of payment of a non-refundable application fee (Bank Pay-in Slip) made to TAWA –SELOUS GAME RESERVE; ACCOUNT NUMBER: 012105021353 at NATIONAL BANK OF COMMERCE– SAMORA BRANCH, DAR ES SALAAM;
   15. Application for each block will be made on a separate form and relevant fees MUST be paid as shown in the table 1 above

TENURE OF OWNERSHIP OF HUNTING BLOCKS:

The tenure of ownership for each hunting block shall end in the year 2022 subject to annual performance review of the hunting company.

MODE OF APPLICATION:

For Companies who will be interested to apply for hunting blocks, the application forms can be obtained from our office and our office will be available to assist in completing the application forms, and alternatively to that the application form can be obtained from the following addresses:

• Director General
  Tanzania Wildlife Management Authority
  Dar es Salaam Road
  Tafori Building
  P. O. Box 2658
  Morogoro.
• TAWA-Tourist Hunting Office
  Mpingo House, Ivory Room, 4th Floor
  40 Julius Nyerere Road
  P.O. Box 9372
  Dar es Salaam.
• TAWA-Tourist Hunting and CITES Office
  P. O. Box 1541
  Arusha.

Our office upon request by interested applicants can provide the fifty-six (56) available hunting blocks list with its categories as listed on Table 1 above or the same can be obtained through the aforementioned TAWA Offices.

FURTHER INFORMATION:

This editorial is intended to give you a general over view of the Law. If you would like further information on any issue raised in this column, please contact.

Patrick sanga
Partner
E: p.sanga@vemmaattorneys.co.tz
M: +255 686 999 993

Haika-Belinda Macha
Partner
E: hb.macha@vemmaattorneys.co.tz
M: +255 688 305 999