Tanzania raises fees sky high

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THISDAY REPORTER
Dar es Salaam

THE local hunting community has reacted angrily to the decision of the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism to hike various licences and fees related to the industry, saying the move was based on false facts and assumptions.

In a letter to Minister Prof. Jumanne Maghembe and a separate but related statement to THISDAY, a number of companies representing local hunting stakeholders described comparisons made by the minister as being ’’flawed, clearly misguided, and in serious misrepresentation of the facts.’’

The sharp statement is in response to the minister’s suggestions that the hike in tourist hunting fees and licences was in line with prevailing rates in some other Southern African Development Community (SADC) member states.

’’We all agree that block fees need to go up to catch up with increasing costs. But the increase and the timing need serious consideration,’’ said the hunting companies in their statement.

They continued: ’’All the hunting blocks need to be graded fairly first, for those fees to be truly commensurate to its economic potential and applied in a principled manner that will be least disruptive to the industry.’’

Prof. Maghembe recently announced a significant increase in hunting block licences and game fees in the country, saying the move was aimed at placing the overall fee structure on par with prevailing rates in other SADC member countries.

In reaching the decision to raise the hunting block fees, comparisons were drawn between the annual rental fee of safari camps and hotels in the Selous Game Reserve ($36,000 per annum) and block fees in the same reserve ($10,000 per year), the difference thus justifying the latter fee increase to $50,000 in category A and $40,000 in category B.

However, local hunters said the comparison was unfair and misleading, much like ’’comparing apples with pineapples.’’

According to their statement, photographic camps and hotels operate 10 months a year while local hunters operate for just five to six months a year.

’’Furthermore, photographic camps enjoy a far greater financial advantage due to their higher occupancy rate of 150-300 bed nights per month, versus ours (local hunters) of just one to three hunters per month,’’ the statement added.

The local hunters also accused Prof. Maghembe of presenting flawed facts by saying hunting block fees in other SADC countries cost up to $200,000.

’’Here is another example of misrepresentation of facts, as it is only in two African countries (Botswana and Zimbabwe) where block fees can reach $100,000 and above. However, these fees include the entire quota for the outfitters to sell under their private trophy fee scheme and pocket the money, thus recovering the entire cost of the block,’’ asserted the statement.

In announcing the increase in game fees (also called trophy fees), Prof. Maghembe cited the case of South Africa, which he said has a lion trophy fee of $18,000, as sufficient justification for raising fees for the same in Tanzania from $2,500 to $12,000.

But according to the hunters statement: ’’Trophy fees in South Africa are set by owners of private ranches, who sell guaranteed safaris for genetically enriched lions, where the total package cost of the hunt is $18,000-$25,000 including airport transfers, accommodation, meals and beverages, hunting activities, transport, professional hunting, trophy fees, permit fees, and trophy preparations.’’

The statement also contended that for private ranches, the South African Government charges a permit fee of just 800 rand ($115) per lion, whereas on provincial land the SA government makes an additional game fee of 40,000 rand ($5,715) per lion, and not $18,000 as stated by the minister.

’’It would be more appropriate to compare the trophy fees for lions with other SADC countries with free range hunting like Botswana ($4,400), Zambia ($2,750), Zimbabwe ($3,000), and Mozambique ($625) for one to justify moderate increases without ruining Tanzania’s competitiveness in the market,’’ said the statement.

Similarly, the hunters criticised the ministry’s move to increase the elephant trophy fee from $5,000 to $15,000, apparently in keeping with Botswana’s stated fee of $25,000 as announced by Prof. Maghembe.

’’Once again, this is a misrepresentation of the facts, because the Botswana Government only collects a licence fee of 20,000 pula ($4,400) per elephant and that $25,000 is the hunt total package - not just the government trophy/licence fee,’’ said the hunters in their statement.

They cited the elephant trophy fee for other SADC countries as follows; Zimbabwe $9,200, Zambia $10,000, Mozambique $4,800 (depending on currency exchange rates), while in South Africa the government permit fee is 5,000 rand ($714) per elephant on private land and an additional $5,700 onwards - depending on the weight of the elephant’s ivory ? on provincial land.

’’It is also possible that erroneous comparisons resulted from using trophy fees quoted in Botswana pula or South African rand currencies, and mistaken for the US dollar,’’ said the statement, adding that the ’drastic’ increase in fees had significantly affected business since this year’s safaris were sold and contracted based on the previous rates.

According to the hunters’ statement: ’’It is too late to resell the cancellations for this season in order to refund the clients, especially with these new uncompetitive trophy fees, and we are now at serious risk of legal action being taken against us overseas.’’

They concluded: ’’The good image of the Tanzanian hunting industry has been built over 30 long, hard but stable years, and has now been put to shame with these new high fees that have come without notice and during the season.’’

It is understood that before Prof. Maghembe announced the new fees in his ministry’s 2007/08 budget speech in Dodoma in July, representatives of the Tanzania Hunting Operators Association (TAHOA) met with him in the designated capital to discuss the alleged flaws in elephant, leopard and lion fee comparisons with other countries.