This archive report was first published on 25 July 2019.
Published on July 25, 2019, Tanzania's Deputy Minister for Agriculture and Irrigation, Hussein Bashe, has invited Kenyan businesspeople to buy maize to bridge a shortfall that has led to soaring prices of the food.
Bashe made the announcement at State House in Dar es Salaam, where he received a delegation from Kenya led by Foreign Affairs Cabinet Secretary Monica Juma.
"Let me assure Kenyans that we have enough stock of maize. I promise to sit together with our fellow Kenyan leaders even today so that we can come up with an arrangement of selling maize at a market price," Bashe said.
He added that the country has two millings plants seating idle in Mwanza and Iringa, and that businesspeople should not worry about milling the grains.
Bashe also assured Kenyan businesspeople of no red tapes, saying the country will assist them to buy and mill their maize free from other intermediaries.
Kenya was set to open duty-free maize imports this month to plug the grain shortage that has seen the price of flour rise 30 per cent in one month, according to media reports.
