H.E. Ambassador Baraka Luvanda Meets Honda Company Representatives at the Embassy, Tokyo 15 February 2022

On Tuesday 15^th February 2022, the Manager of Honda Motorcycle Planning Market, Africa and the Middle East Division, Mr. Yusuke Kawabata paid a courtesy call on H.E. Ambassador Baraka Luvanda. Mr. Kawabata was accompanied by Mr. Taisuke Otsuka from the same division. The courtesy meeting was also attended by Embassy officers, namely, Mr. John Kambona, Mr. Greyson Ishengoma and Mr. Hosea Chikolongo. 

After the exchange of courtesies, Mr. Kawabata thanked Ambassador Luvanda for giving an early audience and invited Mr. Otsuka to make a presentation about the company profile. 

Mr. Otsuka explained in detail about HONDA Company’s business worldwide. He informed the meeting that the company has a long history of dealing with manufacturing of vehicles, motorcycles and various machines and equipment. He further informed that at the moment the company is geared at expanding its market in Africa, especially, for motorcycles. For Eastern Africa, the company has established a factory in Kenya, serving the East Africa market while the South African branch and the Nigerian and Ghanaian branches serve the Southern African and the West African markets. Mr. Otsuka went on to point out that Tanzania is the 9^th among top ten countries which import HONDA motorcycles in Africa and there is great potential to scale it up. He informed the meeting about their presence in Tanzania through an agent called HONDA Tanzania AFRI tool, located in Dar es Salaam. 

Mr. Otsuka concluded his presentation by informing that HONDA is about to finalize a feasibility study in Tanzania with a view to possibly opening a full-fledged motorcycle factory, that will cater for both the Eastern and Southern African market. 

Ambassador Luvanda thanked Mr. Otsuka for an informative presentation and supported the company’s move to invest more in Tanzania. He further explained that Tanzania has a lot of business potential for HONDA motorcycles including, being the largest country in East Africa; being a strategic geographical location with several ports; having largest tracks of arable land for agriculture where motorcycles are a major means of transport and especially, being a member of both East African Community (EAC) and Southern African Development Community (SADC). “All these factors would make HONDA break-even but at the same time it would benefit Tanzania”, he said.

 He also assured HONDA of the friendly and suitable investment environment in Tanzania with predictable legal, policy and institutional frameworks, favouring both domestic and foreign investments.

Mr. Kawabata appreciated for Ambassador Luvanda’s assessment of the business situation in Tanzania and beyond Tanzania and informed the meeting about the company’s plans to dispatch Mr. Otsuka to Tanzania for more exploration on their business expansion with a view to enhancing their business competitiveness with other prominent players such as India and China.

Mr. Kawabata appreciated for the warm reception afforded to them and promised to keep the Embassy in the loop regarding their future interaction with Tanzania.