There are growing concerns in Tanzania that the enforcement of an order to pay an Australian mining firm may include seizing aircraft operated by the national carrier Air Tanzania.
This tactic has been tried before by other winners of international arbitration proceedings against Tanzania.
The Australian firm, Indiana Resources, threatened to pursue this avenue for compensation in a previous action.
This follows the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) reportedly ordering the Tanzania government to pay more than $109 million to a group of companies fronted by Australian miner Indiana Resources in compensation for a controversial 2018 expropriation of a nickel mine project.
On July 14 an ICSID ad hoc tribunal ruled that the government had breached the UK-Tanzania Bilateral Investment Treaty when it seized the Ntaka Hill Project held by UK-registered Ntaka Nickel Holdings and Nachingwea UK along with Nachingwea Nickel, a Tanzania-registered firm.
The total award amount of $109.5 million includes interest already accrued to the claimants plus $3.859 million in legal costs to the claimants and the ICSID's own costs.
Under ICSID rules, Tanzania has 120 days to file an application for annulment of the order.
