The Respondent reporter
Dar es Salaam – Dividends to the government from companies in which it holds minority shares have surged by an impressive 236% over the past five years.
In the fiscal year ending June 2024, the government, through the Office of the Treasury Registrar (OTR), received Sh195 billion in dividends, up from Sh58 billion five years ago.
This remarkable growth in dividend collection was highlighted on Wednesday, March 19, 2025, by Ms. Lightness Mauki, the Director of Performance, Monitoring, and Evaluation of Commercial Entities at the OTR, during an announcement on the Baragumu program aired on Channel 10.
Ms. Mauki's statement comes ahead of the scheduled meeting of Chief Executive Officers (CEOs) and board directors of companies in which the government holds minority shares, taking place from March 26 to 28, 2025.
“This is not ordinary growth,” Ms. Mauki remarked during the morning broadcast.
She attributed the increase in dividends to a combination of favorable business conditions, improved governance, and strengthened collaboration with other shareholders.
In a bid to further boost the contributions of these companies, the OTR has been reviewing outdated contracts to align them with current economic realities.
“One positive development is our continued good relations with other shareholders. This collaboration will enhance the productivity of the companies in which the government has a stake,” she noted.
Among the successes, the government recently increased its shareholding in SOTTA Mining Company from 16% to 20%.
Furthermore, the government has worked to enhance the operational performance of these companies, with results already beginning to show.
For instance, in June 2024, Mbeya Cement Company Limited announced a dividend payment of Sh3 billion to the government, marking the first dividend payment in a decade.
Ms. Mauki emphasized that the OTR’s goal is to double the Sh195 billion in dividends in the near future. To this end, the OTR has planned a second meeting of CEOs and board directors of companies where the government holds minority shares.
The upcoming meeting, scheduled to take place at the Julius Nyerere Leadership School in Kibaha, Coast Region, will also serve as the launch of a new governance guideline for board directors, which will have a different focus than the previous one.
One key session will address the Implementation of the East African Community Vehicle Load Control Act, 2016: Cases of Road Overloads and Proposed Solutions, facilitated by the Works Ministry. Additionally, discussions will explore how technology can be leveraged to improve institutional operations and governance.
Ms. Mauki expressed confidence that the use of technology will lead to positive results in institutional performance, which is why it has been chosen as the theme of the meeting.
“The government has significant needs. It is our responsibility to devise strategies for revenue generation,” she underscored.
“Increasing dividend collections is critical so we can channel funds into development projects. We are optimistic about growing these collections further, as the statistics support it. Over the past four years, dividends from companies where the government holds minority shares have grown at an average annual rate of 50%.”
The OTR oversees a total of 308 institutions, 252 of which are fully government-owned, and 56 in which the government holds minority shares, defined by Section Three of the Public Corporations Act as ownership below 51%.