Southern Highlands handed key role in Tanzania’s $1 trillion economy drive
The Tanzanian government has designated the Southern Highlands as a primary hub for industrialization and food production to help reach a $1 trillion economy by 2050. Regional leaders are being tasked with moving beyond raw agricultural output toward processing and export-oriented manufacturing.
Why it matters
This represents a strategic shift in national economic policy, aiming to leverage regional agricultural advantages to drive long-term GDP growth.
Dar es Salaam. Tanzania’s Southern Highlands has been tasked with playing a bigger role in driving food production, industrialisation and trade as the government seeks to build a $1 trillion economy by 2050.
The six-region bloc of Songwe, Mbeya, Rukwa, Katavi, Iringa and Njombe is expected to build on its strength in food production while expanding agro-processing, manufacturing, trade and other economic activities that can raise incomes, create jobs and increase its contribution to the national economy.
The assignment was outlined at the Songwe Dira Forum held on Wednesday, August 19, 2026, the first in a series of regional platforms through which the government plans to translate Tanzania’s Development Vision 2050 into specific economic priorities for each region.
Minister of State in the President’s Office for Planning and Investment, Prof Kitila Mkumbo, told the forum that the six Southern Highlands regions already had a major advantage in food production.
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