A consortium consisting of Haldor Topsøe A/S (Lyngby, Denmark; www.topsoe.com), the German company Ferrostaal Industrial Projects GmbH, and the Pakistani industrial enterprise Fauji Fertilizer Company Ltd., is going to develop a large-scale fertilizer complex in Tanzania together with the state-owned Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation.
The project is currently the largest investment project in Tanzania with an investment sum of more than $1 billion, and the project is being discussed as part of an official state visit to Tanzania from Germany’s President Joachim Gauck.
The fertilizer complex is expected to be on-stream in 2019 or 2020 , producing 1.3 million metric tons per year (m.t./yr) of fertilizer for both the local and international market. Agriculture in Tanzania will stand to benefit in particular. The sector makes up approximately one third of Tanzania’s gross domestic product, with more than 75% of the population working in the agricultural sector. It is expected that 5,000 direct and indirect jobs will be created during the construction and operating period.
The consortium is providing support through the entire project development, including financing, technology, product-offtake as well as construction, maintenance and operation of the plant. As part of this, Topsoe’s role will be to deliver license, engineering, hardware and catalysts for the fertilizer plant that will be located in the South of Tanzania, in the Mt. Wara area, where there are existing port facilities and connections to a future natural gas grid.
The consortium emerged as the winner of a tender carried out by the Tanzanian government in 2013 and is currently in exclusive negotiations with gas suppliers regarding the supply of gas for the fertilizer complex. Furthermore, Tanzanian shareholders and off-takers will also play a significant part in the further development and realization of the project.