Tanzania's environment minister, Hamad Masauni, has denied claims that forests were handed to Saudi or Omani companies for carbon credit trading. He challenged the allegation during an October 11 visit in Dar es Salaam and said carbon trading is not about transferring land titles. The statement comes as Tanzania builds out its carbon market under the 2022 Carbon Trading Regulations and the National Carbon Monitoring Centre's mandate to register and verify projects. The government says 117 projects had been registered by July, though the centre currently lists nine ongoing projects and 1.117 million credits issued. The gap suggests different registration stages. The article also notes a preliminary 2023 agreement with UAE-based Blue Carbon covering about eight million hectares of forest reserves, plus concerns from Maasai representatives about consent and benefit sharing in northern soil-carbon projects. Readers tracking African carbon markets will find useful detail on how regulation, foreign finance, and land rights are interacting on the ground.
