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ABOUT
UTT
Background to the Unit Trust of Tanzania
Objectives of the UTT
Vision of UTT
Mission of UTT
BACKGROUND TO THE UNIT
TRUST OF TANZANIA
The Unit Trust of Tanzania (UTT) was
incorporated on 19th June, 2003. It has been incorporated under the Trustees
Incorporation Act (Cap. 318).To be able to appreciate the objective and functions of the UTT, it is essential
in the first place to understand the basic structure of a “Trust”. In any trust,
there are usually three recognized parties;
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The “Settlor” who is the party that settles the Trust (i.e. bestows property on the trust),
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The “Trustees” who manage property bestowed by the Settlor; and
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The “Beneficiaries” in whose interest property is managed by the Trustees.
Apart from the parties to the trust arrangement, there is also the
“property”
which is the subject matter of the trust often referred to as the “corpus” of
the trust.
The Settlor of the Unit Trust of Tanzania (the “Trust”) is the Minister of Finance representing the Government of Tanzania. The Trustees are five individuals appointed by the Minister. The current trustees are; Prof. Joseph Kuzilwa (Chairman of the Board of Trustees), Hon. Janeth Mmari (MP) , Hon. Omari Sheha Mussa (MP) , Mr. Ramadhan S. Hamisi and Mr. Ramadhan Madabida
The Beneficiaries of the UTT are the citizens of Tanzania. The subject matter
i.e. property in the UTT consists of shares which have been warehoused under the
trust and the rights appertaining to those shares.
The Unit Trust of Tanzania was set up as successor to a previous organization
which was known as The Privatisation Trust (PT). The PT had been established by
an Act of Parliament in 1997. The objectives of the PT were;
(a) To acquire shares in newly privatized enterprises for sale by public offering to achieve a wide distribution among citizens and to obtain sale proceeds which are reasonable in the circumstances prevailing from time to time.
(b) To encourage and facilitate wider participation by citizens in the ownership of privatized enterprises.
(c) To have responsibility on the disbursement of proceeds in accordance with the Privatisation Act;
(d) To advise the Minister and the Commission on matters relating to the administration of the Act;
(e) To manage and administer the Trust with a view to ensure that its objectives are achieved; and
(f) To ensure that shares are sold or distributed, as the case may be, to any eligible investor.
After its establishment, the PT was entrusted with a portion of shares of Tanzania Breweries Ltd. And Tanzania Cigarette Company Ltd. These shares were warehoused pending release to the public. Moreover, the PT made preparation for the setting up of collective investment schemes. Furthermore, the Trust conducted public education programmes jointly with the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange (DSE), Capital Markets and Securities Authority (CMSA) as well as the Parastatal Sector Reform Commission (PSRC).
The Privatisation Trust Act expired on 14th June,2003 and the Unit Trust of Tanzania was registered on 29th June,2003. It is pertinent to mention that the establishment of the Unit Trust of Tanzania was anticipated by the Privatisation Act, 1997 which contained a provision for its succession by a unit trust.
The UTT is therefore a recently established institution which is currently putting in place a foundation for a variety of future activities.
The objectives of the UTT are;
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To acquire and keep in trust the shares of the privatized enterprises that were held by the Privatization Trust and all those shares of the privatized enterprises that will be placed in trust by the Settlor from time to time in the course of the privatization of public enterprises;
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To ensure that, shares that are held in trust are distributed among Tanzanians citizens in a manner that will encourage and facilitate savings and wider participation by citizens in the ownership of privatized enterprises that will enable and stimulate participation in capital markets.
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To establish, launch and manage collective investment schemes so as to achieve the objectives of the Trust.
These objectives evidently contain an empowerment mandate. Empowerment is indeed a broad concept which may be operationalised by a variety of programmes in different national sectors. The UTT is a financial sector institution and therefore its programmes are to hinge more on development of financial products of empowering Tanzanians to undertake various economic activities. These may range from the establishment of collective investment schemes to the formulation of various financial support products. In “kick-starting” the activities of the UTT however, attention has been focused the establishment of a collective investment scheme which shall be known as “Umoja Fund”.
VISION
To be an efficient investment institution that would facilitate the divestiture
process and empower Tanzanians to become effective stakeholders in their
country's economic development for improvement of their welfare.
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To hold and manage shares of certain targeted privatised companies in trust for citizen of Tanzania.
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To enhance a savings culture among the people of Tanzania.
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To facilitate wide ownership of shares of privatized and other enterprises by Tanzanian citizens.
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To establish, launch and manage collective investment schemes.
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