Barrick-Twiga doubles dividend to $85M, fueling Tanzania’s economic gains

WEDNESDAY July 1, 2026

By Adam Ihucha

The Tranquillity News Correspondent, Tanzania

Tanzania’s partnership with Canada’s Barrick Mining Corporation is delivering increasingly tangible returns for the country’s economy, it has been learnt.

Latest development shows that the Barrick-Twiga joint venture has emerged as the Tanzania government’s largest dividend contributor in 2026 while expanding its impact through tax revenues, local content compliance, employment, and community investment.

Barrick-Twiga submitted a dividend cheque worth TSh221.9 billion (about $85 million) to the government of Tanzania during the 2026 Dividend Day ceremony at State House in Dar es Salaam, earning the top award as the country’s highest dividend-paying government-linked company.

The record payout marks another milestone for the partnership between Barrick Mining Corporation and the government of Tanzania through Twiga Minerals Corporation, reinforcing the joint venture as one of the country’s most successful public-private investment models.

The latest dividend more than doubled the TSh93.6 billion distributed last year, following payments of TSh84 billion (about $32 million) in 2022/23 and TSh53.5 billion (about $20 million) the previous year.

But beyond the record dividend lies a bigger story: A mining partnership that has steadily evolved into a catalyst for economic growth, local enterprise development, and social investment.

Since the formation of Twiga in 2019, Barrick has injected more than US$4.79 billion into the Tanzanian economy through taxes, royalties, dividends, salaries, payments to local suppliers, and investments in communities.

In the first half of 2025 alone, its economic contribution reached $558 million, highlighting the scale and sustainability of the partnership.

Speaking after presenting the dividend cheque to President Samia Suluhu Hassan, the Barrick Tanzania Country Manager, Dr Melkiory Ngido, said the record dividend reflected the strength of a partnership built on shared value rather than simply financial returns.

“Beyond paying the largest dividend to the government, Barrick-Twiga continues contributing significantly to Tanzania’s economy through taxes, royalties, levies, salaries, and payments to local suppliers,” said Dr Ngido, adding: “Our investment strategy is designed to ensure that the benefits of mining extend well beyond our operations and create lasting value for Tanzanians.”

He said the partnership had simultaneously strengthened government revenues, created business opportunities for Tanzanian companies, and improved livelihoods in communities surrounding the mines through investments in education, healthcare, clean water,  and road infrastructure.

“Our operations continue generating direct and indirect employment while creating opportunities for local contractors and indigenous suppliers. These are the outcomes that demonstrate responsible mining and a successful partnership with the government,” Dr Ngido said.

The Barrick-Twiga joint venture operates the North Mara and Bulyanhulu gold mines, while the former Buzwagi mine is being transformed into the Buzwagi Economic Special Zone, extending the economic life of the site beyond mining activities.

The broader economic impact of the partnership extends well beyond dividends.

Barrick reports that more than 90 per cent of its procurement spending is directed to Tanzanian suppliers, the majority of them indigenous companies, while 96 per cent of its workforce is Tanzanian, nearly half drawn from communities surrounding its mines.

The company’s sustainability investments have also become a defining feature of the joint venture.

Through its corporate social responsibility programmes, Barrick-Twiga continues financing schools, health facilities, clean water projects, and road infrastructure in host communities.

One of its flagship initiatives is the Future Forward programme—a $30 million joint investment between Barrick and the government of Tanzania, aimed at expanding education infrastructure across the country.

The programme’s second phase is expected to create classroom space for an additional 45,000 pupils.

President Samia praised institutions and companies in which the government had equity for increasing returns to the Treasury, noting that total dividend collections rose from TSh1.28 trillion (about $490 million) to TSh1.328 trillion (about $508 million), reflecting stronger corporate performance and improved governance.

She said the growing returns demonstrated that productive partnerships between the government and private investors are delivering measurable economic value.

“We are making good progress, and I am very proud of leaders who continue to deliver positive results in the interests of our country and our people,” President Samia said during the ceremony.

She also called for continued efforts to maintain a business environment that enabled strategic partnerships to thrive while ensuring the nation received fair value from its natural resources.

The President added that Dividend Day should serve as a benchmark for measuring whether public investments and joint ventures were generating real economic returns capable of supporting Tanzania’s long-term development ambitions.

Five years after its establishment, the Barrick-Twiga partnership has become a benchmark for resource partnerships in Africa.

As Barrick recently noted while marking the fifth anniversary of the venture, the partnership has redefined the role of mining by combining shared ownership, operational excellence, and long-term investment in Tanzania’s future.

For Tanzania, the significance of the joint venture is no longer measured solely in ounces of gold produced.

It is increasingly measured in rising government revenues, expanding local businesses, thousands of Tanzanian jobs, stronger communities, and growing investor confidence—evidence that a well-structured public-private partnership can transform mineral wealth into broad-based national development.