Tanzania has announced a ban on the importation of agricultural products from South Africa and Malawi in response to similar trade restrictions imposed by both countries.
The three nations are members of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) economic bloc. Tanzania had previously requested that both Malawi and South Africa lift their respective bans on Tanzanian agricultural exports by Wednesday, but the demands were not met, according to Tanzania’s agriculture minister, Hussein Bashe, in a video posted on X.
Malawi recently prohibited the import of Tanzanian goods, including maize flour, rice, ginger, and bananas, while South Africa imposed a similar ban on Tanzanian bananas.
“Effective immediately, we are halting the importation of all agricultural products from South Africa,” Bashe confirmed, adding that a similar measure would be applied to Malawi.
Tanzania intends to also stop the transit of agricultural goods through its territory destined for landlocked Malawi and will halt the export of Tanzanian fertilizer to Malawi. Bashe emphasized that these actions were necessary to protect Tanzanian businesses, but assured that discussions to resolve the trade dispute would continue with both countries.
“This is business, and we must all respect each other,” Bashe concluded.
