The United Republic of Tanzania – The International Organization for Migration (IOM), the United Nations (UN) Migration signed a new Memorandum of Standing (MoU) with the Government of the United Republic of Tanzania on the African Capacity Building Centre (ACBC) in the Capital City, Dodoma on 13 November 2019.

The validity of the new MoU is five years as of the date (13 November 2019) of its signature by the Government of Tanzania and the IOM.

On behalf of the Government, the MoU is signed by Honorable Mr. Kangi Lugola, the Minister of Home Affairs while Dr Qasim Sufi, the IOM Chief of Mission (CoM) to Tanzania signed the MoU on behalf of the IOM, the UN Migration Agency.

The first Agreement between the Government of the United Republic of Tanzania and the IOM on the establishment of ACBC in Moshi, Kilimanjaro region, Tanzania concluded on 2 October 2009 following a request by IOM African Member States and was extended until 1 October 2019 by exchange of letters dated 13/14 November 2014.

It was done after recognizing the need to promote and support sound governance and management regarding international migration, including border management governance thereby contributing to social, economic and cultural development in the world, as well as facilitating safe, orderly and regular migration and willing to respond to this need by continuing the operation of the dedicated IOM ACBC for Migration Management in the United Republic of Tanzania and desiring to define the objectives, functions and structure of the Centre and to set forth the commitments of both Parties with regard to its establishment and operation.

Keeping with the principles set forth in the IOM constitution, the objectives of the IOM ACBC are:

a) promote international understanding of migration issues and support sound migration governance and management on African continent, in close cooperation with partners and donors globally;

b) develop, institutionalize and deliver on-site, off-site and virtual specialized migration management, training programs and related technical tools, including training curricula, resource manuals, applications, etc.

c) further strengthen migration management capacities of interested African States including notably also activities in the field of immigration and border management.

To achieve its objectives, IOM ACBC will carry out the following: -

a) Perform assessments and make available technical expertise, know-how and support to requesting African States to identify and respond to key migration management challenges in the technical area of migration and border management, including migration

policy, as well as related legislative and operational reform.

b) Analyze and identify training needs and priorities of African States in the area of migration in consultation with those governments and relevant IOM field offices.

c) Deliver targeted technical trainings on migration management and develop related training curricula, resource books, applications and other useful tools.

d) Cooperate and network with other training centers and institutions in the migration management field.

e) Collect, analyze and share migration information with interested States and other stakeholders in an effort to provide reliable, timely and up-to-date information on migration issues affecting the African continent; and

f) Perform such other activities as are consistent with the objectives of the centre.

The Centre may carry out its activities in co-operation with governments, regional organizations, international organizations, non-governmental organizations, academia, civil society organizations and other relevant bodies.

Since its inception till this year (2019) that it has completed its 10^th Anniversary, the IOM center’s portfolio of activities focused mainly on Immigration and Boarder Management (IBM) for all African Member states: from Cairo to Cape Town and from Dakar to Dar es Salaam in the four most spoke languages on the continent i.e.  English, French, Arabic, Portuguese as well as in Kiswahili as the main indigenous African language.

IOM ACBC also provides technical support to IOM Missions outside the African continent but this happens only ad hoc basis and if requested.  

The Centre is currently manned by five highly qualified IOM staff and is equipped with modern Forensic and MIDAS laboratories. IOM ACBC uses the One Stop Border Post (OSBP) along the land border between Tanzania and Kenya at Holili Taveta for conducting practical sessions of its wide range of training packages that it conducts locally. IOM ACBC experts also travels to concerned African countries for need assessments as well as for trainings. However the future intention of the center is to diversify its current portfolio into other related thematic areas such as: Labor Migration across borders and Health at Borders by expanding the scope of its interventions across two of the three IOM ACBC pillars:

1. Capacity building, and
2. Advocacy and Partnerships in line with the IOM DG’s Strategic Vision along five focus areas i.e. i. Policy and Planning, ii. Programs and Operations, iii. Innovation and Learning, iv. Partnerships and v. Compliance and Reporting.

Between 2009 and 2019, circa 7000 migration management practitioners among which, border authorities, policymakers and law enforcement from all African regions have benefited from ACBC’s expertise through trainings and workshops, assessments and consultations either at the Tanzania Regional Immigration Training Academy (TRITA) where the IOM ACBC is physically located. 

Speaking at the signing event of the MoU, Honorable Mr. Kangi Lugola, the Minister of Home Affairs of the United Republic of Tanzania acknowledged the very important role that the IOM ACBC is playing in building capacities of immigration officers not only in Tanzania but in the other African states as well and reiterated the Government support to the IOM in continuing this important endeavor in the field of Migration which is of paramount importance for Tanzania and the rest of Africa and beyond as it is positively contributing in addressing challenges related to irregular migration i.e. trafficking and smuggling in humans and at the same time strengthening safety and security along our borders, he concluded.

Dr Qasim Sufi, the IOM CoM to the United Republic of Tanzania thanked the Government of Tanzania for continuing its support to both the IOM and the African States by hosting the IOM ACBC in Moshi. “This represents a substantial amount of in kind contribution to IOM, the UN Migration Agency on top of strengthening capacities of African Members States in managing their borders”, he added.

For more information, please contact Dr Qasim Sufi, IOM CoM to the United Republic of Tanzania at email qsufi@iom.int and telephone +255 682 563 796 or

Mr. Florian Forster, Head of IOM IBM Department at IOM Head Quarters, Geneva at email fforster@iom.int and telephone +41 794 335 867.