Aluminium Africa Limited (ALAF)

Aluminium Africa Limited (ALAF), a leading aluminium and steel company in Tanzania, faces significant operational barriers in the SADC region, primarily driven by inadequate energy and transport infrastructure, inefficient border controls, and regulatory uncertainty. These challenges increase business costs and reduce product competitiveness. To mitigate these issues, ALAF has invested in internal backup power and lobbied the Tanzanian government, though the company notes a lack of tangible government action and minimal engagement with the SADC Secretariat.

• ALAF identifies critical infrastructure deficits, particularly in energy, as a primary driver of increased business costs and reduced competitiveness. Energy is described as expensive, inadequate, and of poor quality, with the energy regulator failing to anticipate demand, leading to power rationing and outages in 2010 and 2011 and a 40% increase in power costs.
• Transport and logistics present major hurdles, characterized by high costs, vehicle shortages, and inefficient border controls, particularly at the borders with Zambia and Malawi. While the Port of Dar es Salaam has moved to 24/7 operations, efficiency is undermined by unharmonized hours with other agencies, such as Customs, which only operates five days a week.
• The business environment is hampered by regulatory uncertainty and policy volatility. In 2011, Tanzania reintroduced a business license that had previously been abolished, implementing it as four separate licenses with associated costs.
• ALAF faces labor and financial constraints, including difficulty accessing skilled middle management and specialist skills due to restrictive and expensive work permit policies in Tanzania. Additionally, acute foreign currency shortages in countries like Malawi cause long delays in receiving payments.

APA

South African Institute of International Affairs (2012). Aluminium Africa Limited (ALAF). https://saiia.org.za/saiia-toolkit/aluminium-africa/

Chicago

South African Institute of International Affairs. Aluminium Africa Limited (ALAF). 2012. https://saiia.org.za/saiia-toolkit/aluminium-africa/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=South African Institute of International Affairs |title=Aluminium Africa Limited (ALAF) |date=25 July 2012 |url=https://saiia.org.za/saiia-toolkit/aluminium-africa/ |access-date=23 October 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{southafricaninstituteofinternationalaffairs2012aluminium, author = {{South African Institute of International Affairs}}, title = {{Aluminium Africa Limited (ALAF)}}, institution = {South African Institute of International Affairs}, year = {2012}, month = jul, url = {https://saiia.org.za/saiia-toolkit/aluminium-africa/}, urldate = {2026-10-23}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }