Egypt’s intends to develop water infrastructural projects in Dodoma

The Arab Republic of Egypt has expressed its intention to cut down and reduce the overwhelming water shortages currently facing the municipal council in the designated Dodoma capital city in central Tanzania. The Egyptian Ambassador accredited in Tanzania Yasser Elshawaf said early this week in Dar es Salaam that, his government is determined to invest in underground water infrastructure.  The call by Egypt government has come amid intensive preparations currently being undertaken by the fifth phase government of migrating main functional government ministries to Dodoma. The fifth phase government has shown seriousness by inviting both local and foreign investors to take part in development of the Dodoma town so as it might acquire the national status of being the country’s capital city since its declaration in 1973. In order to accomplish the need, the Egyptian Ambassador noted that, his embassy office is underway to look for a strategic investor from his country to come and invest in all the areas of the water infrastructures. In addition to that, the embassy is also encouraging investors and businessmen from Egypt to come to Tanzania to explore the available chances for trade and exchange ideas with Tanzanian brothers He also mentioned some other sectors of development that Egypt is interested to coordinate with Tanzania such as in areas of Pharmaceutical and Petro-Chemical industries. Currently Egypt is among the African countries which have helped Tanzania to cater for the water scarcity in some various parts in the country. So far, Egypt has donated about 60 boreholes out of 100 which have already been constructed in Northern Tanzania. According to the Ambassador Elshawaf, the third phase of the project would be fulfilled soon by his government through the ministry of water and irrigation at a range of about $ 6 million. In June 2015, Egypt declared its ambition to return to Africa to join forces with other African blocs in terms of strengthening bilateral business ties to pave the way to create an ambitious free trade area among the three African blocs like the EAC, COMESA and the SADC with the rest of African countries. Three weeks ago, Egypt reiterated her call again of returning to Africa so as to maintain closer economic cooperation with African countries. Addressing senior media managers from various African countries at the Presidential Palace, President Abdel Fattah Al-Sisi described serious cooperation with African countries as the cornerstone of his country’s Foreign Policy. “I said it in my inaugural speech, I have said it again and again and I am saying it now that we are returning to our African sisters and brothers to join hands in building our African countries,” said the president, citing the establishment of Egyptian Agency of Partnership for Development (EAPD) as an effective move towards cemented cooperation with other African nations. He said the African continent is endowed with vast natural resources, which needed collective efforts to develop and exploit for the benefit of all Africans.  Egypt’s Foreign Policy had for a long time been firmly turned eastwards due to its closeness, geographically and culturally, to the Middle-East. The country is a transcontinental state, spanning the northeast corner of Africa and southwest corner of Asia by a land bridge formed by the Sinai Peninsula. President Sisi said for the past two years his country had embraced ambitious programme for economic development, setting the 2030 target for comprehensive development.

Tanzania imposes stringent measures to curb declining fish stocks in Lake Victoria

As dynamite fishing is alarmingly growing and become a great threat to marine creatures in waters, Tanzania government has imposed stringent measures that would help curb with the increased phenomenon especially in Lake Victoria basin. The introduced measures have come in place at a time when many untrusted fishermen are venturing into illegal fishing activities and the outcome is that, have destroyed their breeding places an aspect that has also made the lake to have few number of fish species. The Deputy Minister for Agriculture, Livestock and Fisheries William Tate Olenasha said in an exclusive interview early this week in Dar es Salaam that, “the already imposed measures by the government would also help conserve the biodiversity along the Lake shores”. He named the alternative measures as effective strengthening of the surveillances in surface waters and monitoring control in order to promote aquaculture, the ministry has set minimum size of fishing gears to be used by fishermen as recommended by experts. These include gillnets with minimum of six inches. Other measures he mentioned are strengthening collaborative fisheries management measures as well as conduct regular MCS operations. Two years ago, Tanzania government decided to impose a six- month annual finishing ban in Lake Victoria with a view to raise Nile perch stocks an aspect that rendered a blow  of 200,000 fishermen who directly benefit from fishing activities from Lake Victoria. But the government said it was seeking a go ahead from other East African Community (EAC) member states before the ban implemented and wanted Kenya and Uganda which shares with the lake with Tanzania to consider taking similar step. The then EU Head of Delegation to Tanzania and the East Africa Community (EAC), Ambassador Filiberto Sebregondi said the ban would reduce the national earnings generated from the Nile perch to the EU market which is the biggest market for the products. Mr Sebregondi further said the decision would also force hundreds of fish processing plants around the lake to review their business and lack of long-term measures to sustain the fisheries stocks puts the viability of the sector and thousands of residents who depend of the Nile perch as a source of protein to switch to carbohydrates diet. Early this week, the Ugandan government proposed the idea of closing fishing activities taking place in Lake Victoria for some time to allow fish stocks replenish. According to the Ugandan government, the military has been appointed to take charge of all the country’s waters for this purpose.

Standard gauge railway to improve Tanzania’s economy

The recently signed construction of high speed standard gauge railway (SGR) line from Dar es Salaam to Morogoro, which will later on be extended up to Mwanza city, will improve the country’s economy while cutting down higher transportation costs, an economist specializing on road transportation matters has said. Reuben Daniel, a city based economist said in an exclusive interview that, there are several economic hurdles which would be reduced once the railway line is in full operation. He mentioned such hurdles as the notorious congestion of containers at the Dar es Salaam port as currently the situation is, and these would now be reduced to secure the port as the preferred facility not only in the country but within East and Central Africa region.  The railway line would reduce cost of transportation in the country by reducing the number of heavy trucks on the highways thereby making an attractive investment destination. This is expected to reduce further the number of accidents, hence making roads safer for human traffic. As Tanzania’s fifth phase government has devoted to build an industrial state, the newly constructed railway line would speed up the industrialization process through cheaper transport that would ease the establishment of new industries thus, contributing to the GDP growth of at least 11 percent per annum from the currently 7 percent. Three months ago, Tanzania signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with two construction companies from Portugal and Turkey for the construction of a 300 km standard gauge railway line between Dar es Salaam and Morogoro worth 2.2tr/-, whose implementation is expected to commence in the next six weeks. The railway line to be constructed using electric-infrastructure is set to spend seven-hours from Dar es Salaam to Mwanza cruising at 160 kilometers per hour. This is the highest compared to the rest in Africa. The railway-line is designed to carry 17 million tonnes of cargo per year, compared to currently whereby its capacity does not exceed 3 million tonnes. According to the Minister for works, Transport and Communication Professor Makame Mbarawa,  Dar-Moro phase is part of five phases planned to be implemented to complete the SGR to Mwanza. He further noted that the SGR project which is the biggest infrastructure in Tanzania will be completed in 30 months. He said in an exclusive interview that, Tanzanians of all walks of life are set to enjoy considerable cost savings in the next coming years which is one of the most important country’s development visions of 2020. “This is one of the flagship projects to cover the longest railway line in the country which runs through eight regions which are Dar es Salaam, Coast, Morogoro, Dodoma, Singida, Tabora, Shinyanga and Mwanza. Tanzania is racing to be preferred business destination for locals and foreigners as part of strategy to become the middle income country by 2020, he said and added that Tanzania must be proud as this project as it will provide the country with enormous economic development benefits once completed. Railway transportation is an effective means of inland transportation which of late has been adopted by heads of governments of East African regions. According to Kenya Railways, construction project of SGR signed between Kenya and China government which kicked off in January 2015, 90 percent is being funded by Chinese Exim Bank with the government of Kenya financing 10 percent. The project starts from Mombasa to Nairobi then it extends to Naivasha and eventually to Malaba in western Kenya from where it will be linked with the Uganda SGR line and ultimately extended to Kigali-Rwanda. The construction is well underway which is scheduled to be completed in June 2017.

TCU verifies students’ credentials to ascertain their admission status

In a bid to scrutinize proper admission status for students currently undertaking undergraduate courses, Tanzania Universities Commission (TCU) underwent a thorough investigation with a view to wipe out cheating on certificates or diplomas used as credentials for student’s admission at higher learning institutions in the country. The exercise by the TCU which took place in Sept 2016, had caused panic, uncertainties and anxiety that reigned among students and their parents at the risk of losing their admission status.  Score of parents and students blamed the commission for the delayed identification of the shortfall that put at risk the plight of about 8,000 students already admitted at various higher learning institutions in the country. TCU being the top most organ in the country is mandated to supervise and control students’ admissions pursuing various programmes in all higher learning institutions. The organ had demanded the already admitted students to prove their academic credentials or risk disqualification immediately. The commissioned ordered students put in suspicion and had appeared in their list to present their academic credentials to their Deputy Vice-Chancellor, Academic offices at a respective institution as instructed by TCU and failure to comply by the order would not be recognized. During that time, some students questioned the regulatory accreditation function of TCU, parents and guardians said the verification should have been done earlier to avoid inconveniencing especially students who are in their final year of studies. TCU’s Information Officer, Mr Edward Mkaku was quoted by the media as saying that, TCU had no intention of disqualifying any student in the list, rather to verify students admitted through TCU and National Council of Technical Education (NACTE), an organ that admits students pursuing courses at a level of Diploma. He said TCU launched a crackdown with a view to ascertain the legality of school certificates and diplomas used by students while applying for the admission to pursue undergraduate studies in various higher learning institutions in the country. It can be remembered that, the exercise was done following the exposure of unqualified students admitted to St Joseph University in Tanzania totaling about 480 in 2015/16 academic year.  The issue was exposed by the Minister of Education, Science, Technology and Vocational Training Prof Joyce Ndalichako when he was winding up a debate in Parliament for her ministry’s budget estimates for the 2016/17 financial year.  The ministers’ announcement also aimed at clearing the air regarding the expulsion of the under qualified students who were being pitied by some members of parliament. The minister was giving clarification on the reported incident in which over 480 students were granted admission to pursue university education while some of them had not even been to high school or to any equivalent education level. The Minister claimed that, most of them were Form Four leavers with poor performance, yet the Higher Learning Students’ Loans board had issued them with loans amounting to millions of shillings. She further observed that since education cheating had been there for quite some time, obviously there might be a number of civil servants who assumed office undeservedly.  All the 480 students were discontinued indefinitely, and due to this the only advice the government gave was personal efforts by the students to seek proper educational procedures that could qualify them to resume classes at St Joseph University.

Why education is a key concept for industrialization process in Tanzania

The industrialization growth for Tanzania economy is an important concept which the current fifth phase government has prioritized with a view to widen up the existing gap which exists between the rich and the poor citizens in the country. Industrialization plays a vital role in the economic growth of an underdeveloped country because by having many industries people get the chances to acquire the available employment opportunities which help them cater their daily needs. The historical facts reveal that all the developed countries of the world broke the vicious circle of underdevelopment by industrialization. Tanzania being among such countries has shown an interest to engage in industrialization process in all sectors to achieve higher standards of living for its masses in order to achieve its goals. Under the industrialization process, there are certain elements which are required in order to make an effective economic growth among the people in the country. Among the most important elements needed of all is the general education. Education is the most key concept for its role is to advocate the general idea of the whole concept about the industrialization process and what it entails as it is being undertaken by nations all over the world.  Without education, industrialists say that the awareness on how the industrialization process is required to grow actually becomes a difficulty task indeed.  Tanzania is one of the poor countries and about 30 percent of its populace lives under the poverty line depending on 1 US Dollar per pay. This means that, there is still a high level of poverty stricken situation sweeping among the people in the country with the high level especially in rural areas. Efforts currently being undertaken by the Tanzania’s fifth phase government to spearhead the industrialization process in the country, aims at alleviating people’s poverty so as to raise their standards of living although its a long term process. In order to successfully achieve its ambition, the government needs to educate its people thoroughly on the most basic fundamental industrial issues so that it achieves its goals in order to become a middle income nation in the world. In view of this, the government work close with private institutions or organization under its programme titled Public Private Partnership (PPP) and carry various research activities in collaboration with privately owned firms for industrial development. Various institutions have a key role to play in mobilizing appropriate resources to enable the industrialization objectives to be achieved. But sometimes institutions fail to force their efforts through due to a number of impediments, and among these corruption has been said to have been a stumbling block which have drawn back the status of institutional developments in terms of industrial development.  It is from this point of view that a famous research institution specializing on poverty alleviation in Tanzania known by its acronym ‘REPOA’ has been occasionally engaged itself with a number of economic research activities to show the government its economic standing point. Usually REPOA conducts its annual workshops whereby it highlights mostly important research activities on a particular topic which it does for the development of the country. Going for its 22^nd Annual Research Workshop for this year 2017, the institution organized a workshop in mid of this week  that centered a debate on the industrialization process and how institutions matters for the growth of industrial growth. The two day workshop programme  that took place in Dar es Salaam was graced by the Minister for Finance Dr. Phillip Mpango had a theme titled, “Why institutions matter for industrialization-led development” and attended by over 300 delegates from both inside and outside the country. Dr. Mpango highlighted various priority areas the government is concentrating on at the moment in order to remove obstacles for Direct Foreign Investment (DFI) to pave the way for industrialization development in the country. He said that, the ongoing crackdown on corruption, tax evasion, embezzlement and other mischief in public sector are meant to attract local and foreign investors so as to build an industrialized economy. In Tanzania he said the move towards industrialization process is going well following intervention to improve the investment environment through scaling up infrastructure and power supply that should go in line with transparency and high standard level of cooperation between government and private sector. However in order to ensure the plan is successful, the finance minister  underscored the need for the country to have a system that would enable to realize its industrialization strategic plan is put in place to ensure its effective implementations. Introduction of training incentives, business regulations and the removal of some unnecessary taxes, introduction of skills for development programmes for youths get jobs are among the key areas of cooperation between the government and the private sector towards industrialization process in Tanzania. The institutional development is crucial for the formation of an industrialized economy since it involves improving laws and policies that influence both the government and the people in the country Presenting a key note speech, Professor Lant Pritchett from Harvard Kennedy School in USA said young countries like Tanzania need to ensure high cooperation between their governments and private institutions to draw a better channel to industrialization process. He further noted that, education and training are most important to ensure specific policies of industrialization by people and those countries should avoid staggering on many issues but identify key development issues and areas that would draw and lead the way to industrialization development. “An industry might grow bigger according to how the economy has put in place the kind of industrial policy adopted by developing nations and how they are adopted to reduce bad attitudes towards industrialization process”, he said and added that nation’s willingness might be the cause to make them become industrialized. On his part, the Bank of Tanzania (BOT) governor Professor Benno Ndulu noted that, Tanzania has been on the learning curve for years an aspect that has brought about consistent improvements in the economy. The Managing Director of the TIB Development Bank Mr. Charles Singili said in his paper presentation titled, “The Role of Financial Institutions” that as Tanzania eyes the journey into industrialization experiences from the pioneer countries have a lot to share. He says Tanzania now has 56 banks in total and out of these, his bank has played a fundamental role in supporting the manufacturing sectors and is charged with making long term loans to projects with national development impact promoted by both private and public sectors.