New $52M Distillery Propels Tanzania’s TPC Ltd into a Green, High-Value Future
The project is expected to create 1,800 jobs and directly support Tanzania’s clean energy and industrial growth agenda.
TUESDAY November 18, 2025
By The Tranquility News Reporter, Tanzania
TPC Limited, one of East Africa’s largest sugar producers, is set to inaugurate a $52 million distillery project tomorrow, marking a significant step in its fresh expansion strategy aimed at reinforcing innovation, sustainability, and community empowerment.
The project is expected to create 1,800 jobs and directly support Tanzania’s clean energy and industrial growth agenda.
The foundation stone for the new plant will be laid in a ceremony attended by high-profile government officials, including the Kilimanjaro Regional Commissioner, Mr Nurdin Babu, and the Tanzania Treasury Register, Mr Nehemia Mchechu.
Their participation highlights the successful, over 25-year partnership between the government and Sukari Investment Limited, TPC’s majority owner.
Jaffary Ally, TPC Limited Corporate Affairs Executive Officer, detailed the project’s transformative output. By processing molasses, a sugar by-product, the distillery will annually produce 16.3 million litres of Extra Neutral Alcohol (ENA).
It will also produce 400,000 litres of technical alcohol, 8,000 metric tonnes of potassium-based fertilizer, 400,000 litres of carbon dioxide for industrial use, and 6 Megawatts of renewable power to support operations and reduce carbon emissions.
“Over 75 per cent of construction materials for the distillery have already arrived, and the construction work is at 30 per cent,” Ally confirmed. The construction work of the facility is expected to be accomplished by December next year.
A Legacy of Growth and Shared Prosperity
The distillery leverages TPC’s record-breaking operational success. The company, which operates on 16,000 hectares and is the largest employer in northern Tanzania with nearly 3,000 permanent and seasonal workers, recently achieved a new production milestone for the 2024/25 season.
It crushed over 1.2 million tonnes of sugarcane to produce 119,466 tonnes of sugar, tripling the output since its privatisation 25 years ago when production stood at just 35,000 tonnes.
This growth has had a direct impact on the national economy, with TPC’s annual contribution surging from $822,707 in 2000 to $39.9 million to date.
Furthermore, the company has pioneered cogeneration in Tanzania, supplying a portion of the 90,000 MWh of electricity it generates each season to the national grid via Tanesco.
The new investment is widely welcomed by TPC staff. Billal Omar Mchomvu, a TPC employee and trade union representative, emphasized the benefits: “Both the employer and workers will benefit from the new plant and so will the nation at large.
“When the profit increases, workers’ salary will also increase. More jobs will be created – when one person secures a job, persons behind him also benefit – children, relatives, parents, friends, and the entire community, further increasing the circulation of money.”
Following the official inauguration, shareholders from both the government and Sukari Investment Limited will convene for a gala dinner within the TPC Limted’s 4,500-hectare Namelok Forest Reserve to celebrate the silver anniversary of their successful partnership.
“It is a leading sugarcane farm for productivity across Africa,” Ally noted, as TPC Limited continues solidifying its position as a powerhouse of industrial and sustainable development in TanzaniaΩ
