The 11th East Africa Expo-link Trade exhibition in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

THE 11th East Africa International Trade Exhibition was held in Dar es Salaam in mid of October this year. The occasion which took place at Diamond Jubilee Hall had the mission apart from the exhibition itself whose motive is to expose various industrial and consumer products into the entire Regional East Africa market. The East Africa's International Trade Exhibition is the largest trade event held annually in Tanzania, the hub of the vast East African market. The exhibition attracted exhibitors from more than 30 countries including visitors from all over East & Central Africa, thus giving exhibitors an excellent opportunity to explore several countries in one time. Over the past few years, Tanzania has emerged as a major regional trade center. This is mainly due to a very friendly and business like atmosphere it offers to foreign investors and products. Duties are considerably low and exports to neighboring countries are either very low or exempted.

A placard carrying a welcoming message of the 11th East Africa Expo-Link trade exhibition as my Sumsung digital camera captured it at diamond Jubilee Hall in Dar es Salaam.

The significance of the trade exhibition is to showcase various product range being manufactured for normal consumption. The so-called Expolink is a major annual trade exhibitions organized by EXPOLINK GROUP worldwide which are Build East Africa, Auto East Africa, Kenya International Trade Exhibition, Tanzania International Trade Exhibition, Food Hotel & Kitchen, Machinery East Africa, Packaging Expo East Africa, Building & Mining Tanzania, Expo Yemen, Expo-Uganda, Expo-Ethiopia, Expo-Nigeria, Security East Africa, Telesat East Africa, Computers & Offices Africa, Expo Egypt. Build-expo Egypt - Egypt Building Exhibition, East Africa International Trade Exhibition, Build-expo East Africa, Medexpo East Africa, Medical Exhibition of East Africa and Fashion East Africa
East Africa 's International Multi-Sector Trade Exhibition attracting exhibitors from over 30 countries. Between 2004-2005 Expo-link exhibition was introduced with new trade exhibition such as Secure-expo East Africa International Trade exhibition on security and safety.

This is the reception leading to the exhibition hall on the right hand side

Former Deputy Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Marketing Dr. Florens Turuka is being welcomed on his arrival by the organizers of the exhibition at the Diamond Jubilee Hall. With him are the exhibition organizers, trailing behind him is Mr. Edwin Rwehumbiza of the Board of External Trade and an official from the BET who co-hosted the function.

Expo-link is a proud member of the Expo Group, a prestigious name in the global exhibition industry with branches in more than 20 countries. The subsidiary was formed with the idea of organizing trade events in various emerging markets, emphasizing on Africa, Middle East, Australia and the Indian continent. In 2002, Expo group celebrated its 10th international trade exhibition covering 17 countries within a period of 10 years. Reasons behind the success have been many, but those contributing most are identifying potential markets and offering a whole world of services.

Former deputy Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Marketing Dr. Florens Turuka in his capacity by then, cuts a tape as a Chief guest of honour to officially open the 11th East Africa International Trade Expo 2008 in Dar es Salaam last year. A three day occasion which took place at Diamond Jubilee hall was attended by mostly businessmen in the city. Dr. Florens is now full Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Information Culture and Sports following recent changes made by President Jakaya Kikwete.

Expo group worldwide also includes countries in European countries such as France, Italy and the Netherlands. The group also plans to carry out exhibition in Melbourne Australia which will be Expo-link Australia’s first International trade exhibition on new products based on the current technological applications, Infrastructure Products and those related in Building and construction of city planning etc.

Dr. Florens Turuka is being briefed by an exhibitor, a German national when he started a tour of the pavilions inside a hall. He is briefed on how some medical facilities and modern medical equipment work.

The PS is being introduced by an exhibitor on arrival at their pavilion

Dr. Florens Turuka is being briefed by an exhibitor Mr. Mfuru Mmiku, a Technical and Application Specialist of Health and Safety (T) Ltd company on how the Haemotology analyzer machine for blood testing works. This was when the PS toured the company’s pavilion which was among the participants in a three day East Africa International Trade Expo 2008 held in October this year at Diamond Jubilee hall in Dar es Salaam. Health and Safety (T) Ltd company is a sole supplier of medical laboratories equipment and reagents in the country which are being manufactured by a Japanese based Sysmex company.

Mr. Ronald Njabulo Shumba, a Zimbabwean national working for Sysmex South Africa as a Technical Product Specialist showing a visitor how Haemotology analyzer machine for blood testing works and how it gives results of a patient tested during the exhibition. Mr. Shumba is a Territory Manager for the company representing Africa region.

This is Health and Safety (T) company Limited whereby visitors thronged to see how medical equipment that belongs to the company known as blood-analyzer conducts blood cell testing

The PS as he moves around various pavilions. His presence as the guest of honour created a happy atmosphere as most exhibitors showed a grin of happiness in their eyes wherever he visited.

The PS is signing a book in one of the pavilions he had visited.

This is at SpeedCraft Company Limited, an Indian based company which supplies construction equipment

SpeedCraft company: Manufacturers of road building equipment of various range such as aggregate and bitumen mixing machine, Asphalt mixing plants, Bitumen supply system, A bucket elevator and many others. Speedcraft is a company from India which was established in 1971 in Partna capital of Bihar. The company is not only known for its quality but also for its commitment towards total customer satisfaction and implementation of projects on schedules.

Four exhibitors of an Indian company during the exhibition

They are showing the PS what their company manufactures, these are medicated products.

This is ABCO Group Limited from Egypt, the company has specialized in food processing.

The PS getting explanations from an exhibitor of Sinthech company from India. The firm deals with water pumps

Dr. Florens Turuka is being interviewed by Star TV reporter during the 11th East Africa International Trade Expo 2008 for which he was the guest of honour. Among other important things the PS insisted to Tanzanian manufacturers was the promotion of their goods so as they could meet the international standards set in a global market. Among the most important point the PS noted for Tanzanian traders is that he urged local manufacturers of products ranging from consumables, industrial, medical etc have been urged to quickly develop a strategy which would enable their industrial products meet international demand in a global market.

Star TV reporter took time to interview the PS when he had finished walking round the pavilions.

A Tanzanian ICT pavilion: Sai Office Supplies (TZ) Limited is the world’s largest manufacturer of dot matrix printers with a product range that offers the ultimate in high speed, low-cost reliable and durable printing across all stationery for which there is simply no alternative, no other technology offers such broad capability from a single machine.

A range of ICT office products at the pavilion.

KLR Industries Limited: This is based in India, they are suppliers of most modern drilling borehole machines such as KLR piling ring, tractor mounted hydraulic rigs specialty for multi-purpose work such as hole drilling, blast hole drilling as well as borehole drilling, crawler mounted for blast hole drill rigs, hydraulic wagon drill KWD-100 and KLR rotary drill rig the company’s inherit confidence has its roots in its success story in mother country. Today KLR drill rigs are performing satisfactorily and can claim to be customer’s first choice in East African countries and outside.

Arihant industries corporation Ltd: Also based in India, the company manufacturers multi-play systems for children such as those for spiral slide, FRP double roller, curve slide, mini slide wave slide and many others of the same kind.

An exhibitor standing on alert to receive his guests during the exhibition at Arihant industries corporation Ltd pavilion.

This is a Tanzanian based Kilimanjaro Architectural glazing Ltd. They are fabricators and installers of quality architectural glazing solutions throughout the world since 1978. Products used are aluminium casement windows and aluminium curtain walling as well as those for aluminium doors.

Taibah Industries; A Pakistan based manufacturers and exporters of hand sprayers. The company was established to achieve the definite goal in the field of manufacturing industrial equipment. It is preparing spray machines whose quality speaks volume with the mark of distinction in the agricultural sector all over the country. These are manufactured by using high quality of imported polythene and international standards steel. The sprayer eliminates pests, insects etc effectively and economically from lawns, homes, gardens, orchards, water tanks, pools, drains, farms and animal shed.

A visitor at Taibah industries moves on after having been briefed about the company’s activities during the show.
This is a pavilion of a German company named EISENKRAFT Ltd which deals with making window decorations by using a machine as this demonstrator at the pavilion who could not want to mention his name is seen displaying to visitors who came to his pavilion. According to him, he has two machines one costs at EURO 1,400 and the other whose cost is about EURO 4,000, the latter looks bigger. He sells these machines and a customer has to order them directly from his industry based in Germany. They provide a manual book with decorations one may choose from the list for the purpose.

The pavilion which attracted many visitors also became an attraction to show goers during Dar es Salaam International Trade Fair (DITF) in July 2008. Once a customer buys a machine, the company undertakes the necessary steps of installation, then a one year guarantee is given. Before that owners take time to train their customers on how to use it wherever possible, and incase of any problem, they have to phone him

This is a sample of a window set with decorations made from the machines which are in display at the exhibition hall. An exhibitor stunned his audiences when he couldn’t even want to issue his contacts unless one could pay an advanced sum of money he demanded as an initial payment, then he closes the deal. Everybody was left in a great amazement by his decision.

Visitors look keenly how an exhibitor arranges the machines which he normally sets them before starting making window decorations at a pavilion.

An exhibitor from the tyre service company is explaining a point to a show goer about the new technology used in tyre service for tubeless tyre brands especially when it’s encountered a puncture. This is a company from Italy

Exhibitors standing in front of their pavilions in reception to would be visitors.

This is how the internal arrangement of the pavilion was designed, with names of the representing companies written on top of the pavilion frames

A visitor passes through along a corridor, a space well designed inside a hall.

A visitor helps to adjust a placard which was about to fall down as he passes close to one of the pavilions

The interior partitioning work was done in a more professional architectural design.

After 47 years of independence, Tanzania sees the benefits of ICTs

TANZANIA commemorated its 47TH anniversary of independence on 9th December 2008 with the country urging its citizens to cope with the emerging technologies in a bid to attain the millennium development goals. The Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have been increasingly seen as integral part to the development processes. Most observers may have noted that the global economy is in the digital age and the information has become the primary source for global economic development, and in view of this, Tanzania has taken technological stride to meet its targets. Art the same time, developing countries are increasingly alarmed at the emerging digital divide in which those without the latest (most expensive) tools such as in the mobile phones will find themselves unable to compete in the global market place. Since the ICT industry is broad, it should be noted that this discussion will focus on the internet and the telephone. This is not because other ICTs, such as radio and the postal services are unimportant, far from it. The radio is used almost universally, making it a powerful tool in disseminating information among the poor. According to studies, levels of radio concentration in developing countries such as Tanzania are on average about 10 times higher than telecommunication expansion. Postal service offers through over 650,000 post offices worldwide, are also far from becoming obsolete. Indeed, in as advanced markets, users of internet technologies are those that send and receive most mail, reads a line in a book titled “Information and Communication Technologies and Broad-Based Development”.
Internet use is spreading among Tanzanians, as government institutions use it for the dissemination of information, and Universities such as the Open University of Tanzania has has set up projects for distance learning and as cyber cafés become common place in major towns and cities. However, it is necessary to remember that the phenomenon only touches a minority of the community” writes Safari Mafu of Sokoine Universality of Agriculture in a paper titled,”From the Oral Tradition to the Information Era:” the case for Tanzania.

Open University of Tanzania, headquarter building in Dar es Salaam. The University has been providing distant higher learning programs in Tanzania for undergraduate as well as Masters degreee programs and post graduate diplomas since 1992

According to him, in a situation where the electricity does not cover the whole country, where the service providers are still experiencing difficulties and where there is a large group with no surplus revenue, internet use will remain an elite activity. This limitation is underscored by the language of the internet. History shows that in the span of just less than two centuries, Tanzania witnessed a rapid transition from oral means of gathering and disseminating information and knowledge to transmission through the printed word to electronic means of information collection, storage and retrieval. “This rapid development of means of transmission has also meant a change in the medium of transmission, with both beneficial and detrimental effects for most Tanzanians” scholars say. Latest changes in how communication and information dispense are now causing the same kind of seismic move that occurred in the early colonial period. Information technology in general and the internet in particular are causing great changes in learning, literacy practices and communication. The very language of exchange has once again shifted . Challenges posed by the digital divide and the risk of being excluded further from the knowledge economy and social development, has propelled the government to put in place a policy framework through which coordinating mechanisms and harmonized strategies might be nurtured.

Students at Open University of Tanzania accessing computers to research study materials for their assignments at the main campus in Kinondoni district, Dar es Salaam region. Computers connected with internet have been more helpful for students at the campus who studies through distance learning basis.

This policy framework makes it possible for enabling sectors such as telecommunications, information, or broadcasting to work together whereby enabled sectors such as education, health, and good governance or agriculture can become more empowered through the appropriate development and application of ICTs. Notable progress was achieved in deploying ICTs notwithstanding the 1974 Prohibition Order on Electronic Computers and Television sets. The achievements were a result of various adjustments since the early 1990sd in policy, regulatory and commercial facets, both macro-economic and within ICTs converging sectors. The private sector has actively contributed to t6hese achievements by investing in among others, support facilities, training centers and sales outlets. According to the International Telecommunication Union (ITU), Tanzania had 820,000 internet users by September 2005, about 6.7 pe4rcent of the population. This number, of course will be higher to date. Significant improvements has been made in the area of telephones. Until the 1990s, there was only one telephone company in business, a nation-owned landline operator. In the mid of 1990s mobile phones operators began coming following te liberalization of the air waves industry According to figures published by the regulator, the Tanzania Communication Regulatory Authority (TCRA), the number of Tanzanians with mobile phones reached 7.5 million by September 30, 2007 up from 6.7 million at the end of the previous quarter.
Mobile phone giant Vodacom led the way with 3,693 million customers ahead of the former Celtel (now known as Zain) with 2,251 million. Tigo (992,036) and Zantel (553,975). In the fixed line sector, the incumbent Tanzania Telecommunications Limited (TTCL) reported a drop in a number of main lines in service from 169,135 to 160,964 in the same period.

This is the headquarter building of the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority (TCRA, known as Mawasiliano House meaning communication house, which is situated along Ali Hassan Road in Dar es Salaam.

According to information made available by TCRA, the ICT statistics shows that while the population of Tanzania is growing at the rate of 2.7 percent per annum, the number of Tanzanians subscribing to telephone line is currently rising by around 47 percent per year. Nonetheless, it notes there is still aw huge gap in terms of universal telecom access and that at least 80.6 percent of the population do not have a telephone line at all, either fixed or mobiles. A recent report by the World Economic Forum (WEF) Tanzania has been ranked in 11th position in Africa for Information and Communication Technology . Likewise, global information technology report of 2006-2007 networked readiness index had ranked Tanzania as in the 91st position worldwide. The WEF report cited such factors as hindering the ICT improvement and development in the sub-Saharan region as lack of extensive and efficient infrastructure, other reasons are cited as due to over-regulated business environment and low education standards. The government has deployed various approaches towards achieving this development. For example in 1995, established an independent regulatory commission by separating the operations of the Telecommunications market and the government sale of 30 percent of its stake to international and local consortia companies. In 1999, it started an e-think tank to bring together different Tanzanian stakeholders, including the government for the purpose of discussing ICT benefits and formulating National ICT strategies. An e-secretariat is in place to coordinate the activities of the e-think tank. Its mission s to offer ICT leadership by utilizing policy changes and supporting related developments aimed at enabling Tanzanians to participate effectively in the modern internet-based global economy. Until recently, Tanzania had been solely reliant on exporting itys agricultural products to other parts of Africa and Europe. A number of Internet Service Providers (ISPs) are now offering internet trading to farmers and other businesses to sell their products around the world.

Swahili software, “The Jambo Mozilla firefox” in common use

Concerns that African languages could become extinct are almost over because internet is assumed to become a refuge. The successful localization of Free Open Source Software (FOSS) into Kiswahili language by the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM) is a one step forward towards digital divide. Despite the powerful influence of English, French & Portuguese as official languages in certain African countries, still indigenous languages are proving that internet technology belongs to no language. Now all Kiswahili web browsers from within and outside Tanzania can appreciate efforts done by the Kilinux Team for their successful localization of a free open source software into Kiswahili language which can now be read in the internet. Kilinux is an Open Swahili Localization Project which was formed in 2003 by the joint effort between the University of Dar e Salaam (UDSM) and the Royal Swedish IT Consultancy company with a view to develop Swahili software to be used in the computers.
The project is a part of an international initiative formed as a taskforce and has gathered a multi-disciplinary team composed by members of the dept of Computer Science and the Institute of Swahili Research of the UDSM. The pioneering effort does not only aim to localize free and open source software into Swahili language, but also create awareness among Swahili speakers of the benefits of using and extending open source software, says Dr. Hashim Twaakyondo, the overall project coordinator. Dr. Twaakyondo who is also the head of Computer Science dept at the UDSM confirmed that “The Jambo Mozilla Firefox 1.0.3, the title name given to the second Swahili software has been released by his dept to the general public for internet use since early 2007. “It’s fully translated into Kiswahili language and runs on both Linux components and Windows XP” he says the efforts undertaken are part of the National Development Strategy.

Journalists at work during the inaugural ceremony of the new Kiswahili software known as "Mozilla Firefox program. The ceremony took place at Nkrumah hall at University of Dar es Salaam main campus in early 2007. Former second phase President Mzee Ali Hassan Mwinyi was the guest of honour.

According to him, they have already accomplished the whole process for making registration of the product into getting CVC account for the Fire fox Localization from a USA based Mozilla organization and the program is in full swing in most computers connected with internet in the country. According to a research assistant working on the project, Mr. James Chambua, they have acquired enough knowledge and skills from their scientific research works and studies at the UDSM of translating Linux operating system from one language to another. However, he says that, the project really helps in providing an effective knowledge in computational linguistic and that the work will help the future of Tanzanians in this world of science and technology by using their own Open Source Software (OSS). He says, the aim of Swahili Localization project since its inception was to destroy the existing language barrier in the country as most operating system and websites in Tanzania are in English language spoken by few Tanzanians an aspect that results into poor understanding of the information given on the web.

Analyzing basic problems incurred on the dissemination of the product, another project researcher, Kenedy Mwakisolwe, says that awareness is still not widespread over the use of the product among Tanzanians. But he is optimistic that its advantages will help most Tanzanians to have control of their own language that is commonly used for business as in other countries like Rusia, Japan, China, Brazil, German and France who use their own OSS. Apart from Kiswahili, other African languages enjoying similar advancements include Uganda’s Luganda, Kenya’s Kikuyu, Burundi’s Kirundi, Rwanda’s Kinyarwanda, Somali’s Somalia and Nigeria’s Hausa.
The proliferation of African languages on the internet is giving these languages a new breath of life though they cover 2 percent of the largest African indigenous languages to be online. Kiswahili will now be the third language whose software is made available in the internet.
The first ever release of the Swahili software the dept of Computer Science at the UDSM dealt with during phase one project is called “Jambo Open Office”. This is a release of an office suite in Kiswahili which has been developed on the free and open office 1.1.3 and is similar in functionality to Microsoft’s popular office programes. The developers released the product in October 2004 having overcome translation and infrastructure difficulties, and it can be installed in both Linux operating systems to support the East Africa language of Swahili in the internet and in Microsoft Office Windows.
The Kilinux team had the opportunity to demonstrate Jambo Office Software to enable Kiswahili users to create documents, presentations, drawings, design websites etc, based on Swahili language. The release is primarily focusing at Tanzanians as there are strong regional differences in Swahili usage, but the team worked with groups in Kenya to make modifications for Kenyan Swahili.
According to the Programme Technical Director of the Kilinux project, Dr. Alberto .E. Pascual, the aim of the project is to eventually have Swahili language software operating on thousands of computers at grass roots level, including primary schools and universities. Its designers describe it as a major initiative towards a full operating system in Swahili and it’s currently being used in most primary and secondary schools in Tanzania including institutions, colleges, government offices and at individual companies. Swahili is the most commonly spoken Bantu African language and it’s the chief trade language of East Africa, and conservative estimates indicate that is being spoken by over 100 million people in areas such as Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, Mozambique, Malawi and parts of the horn of Africa and the Great Lakes Regions. ICT is the cornerstone of vision 2020 that aims to make Tanzania an exporter of services and ultimately making her the regional ICT hub in future. Limiting people to the use of ICT in a foreign language tend to exacerbate the digital divide. It makes the ICT adoption long, difficult, and expensive and impoverishes local culture. Efforts have just begun to make Kiswahili “internet and ICT ready” for the benefit of the community that speaks the language. It is arguably the richest language in the region in terms of culture, semantics and phonology. It is believed that the readiness of Kiswahili in ICT has a direct impact on the development of ICT in education, particularly in Tanzania where most government owned schools still use this language as a medium of instruction. All pupils taking primary education, except few in private schools learn all subjects in Kiswahili for seven years of basic education, making the language so critical in the implementation of ICT in education. However, this changes at higher levels of learning when the language becomes only a subject and not a medium of instruction in secondary schools and all higher learning institutions. On the other hand, the English language is taught as a subject in all public primary schools but becomes a medium of instruction in all subjects after the seven years of primary education. This system of education has been criticized in several forums but the government has refused to change it.
Open Source Software (OSS) refers to any program whose source code is made publicly and freely available for use and or modification.
Inherent in open source philosophy is the freedom of a distributed community of programmers to modify and improve the code. The most widely known example of open source software is the Linux operating system.
Linux is a free Unix-type operating system originally created by Linux Torvalds as a University project in 1991. With the assistance of developers around the world, the software has grown into one of the most preferred operating systems today.
Developed under the General Public License, the source code for Linux is freely available to everyone making it easy for the free flow of queries and suggestions for both end-users and programmers. Unlike other similar software, there are no restrictions for copying and distribution of Linux, it’s instead encouraged for wider use, says a computer enthusiast and Software engineer and a US based ICT expert, Mr. Antoine Bigirimana.
Localization makes ICT more accessible to everybody including users from rural areas and young students who reinforces the importance of local culture and helping us preserve national identity. Localization of ICT into indigenous African languages is therefore a key to rapid socio-economic development in Africa. For Localization to succeed and have its maximum impact in a society, collaboration among governments, civil society, educators, linguists, computer professionals, standards organizations and donor agencies is necessary.

The price of charcoal rises up by 100 percent

CHARCOAL users in the city of Dar es Salaam have been digging deeper into their pockets to buy charcoal whose price has increased by 100 percent for the last two years. Charcoal commodity which is largely used as a source of fuel mostly by low income earners, has increased from Tshs. 15.000/- to Shs. 30,000/- for a sack weighing about 50 kilograms. The survey shows that, most people who are not able to afford the price of one sack, resort to a retail price whereby charcoal is sold in small tins in individual houses at a price of between Tsh. 800/- and Shs. 1,000/- per tin respectively, compared to Shs. 400/- and 500/- sold two years ago. Charcoal traders says that, the skyrocketing of this precious commodity is attributed to low production levels following the recent ban imposed by the government two years ago on wanton felling of trees from which charcoal is made in forests.

This is an area close to the main road which has been turned into a charcoal market at Gongo La Mboto suburb on the outskirts of Dar es Salaam city. Most charcoal traders (the so-called middlemen) transports their sacks on their bicycles.

Apart from this, the increase has also been exacerbated by the currently torrential rains which have began to set in, thus rendering the transportation of charcoal sacks from the forests to become difficult. Forest tracks becomes muddy and ultimately rendered impassable, says Ramadhani Msewa a charcoal seller. A spot check at various designated markets selling charcoal within the city’s suburbs shows that, customers who buys this commodity have complained over the high prices and thereby asking the government to reduce measures it has imposed for most of them depends largely on the use of charcoal as a source of fuel in their homes.

A customer negotiates with a charcoal seller at Gongo La Mboto roadside market.

Hashim Karim a resident of Kiwalani says that, he has to leave Shs. 2,000/- everyday for his wife to buy two tins of charcoal to let her cook the whole day’s meals for his family. Hashim who works as a casual labourer encounters a lot of family problems owing to his minimal wage that is not enough to cater for the daily needs. Despite of the fact that charcoal price is high, on the other way round, charcoal traders, the so-called the middlemen of this business are complaining the way district authorities from the forest department treats them while transporting their sacks for sale to the designated markets in the city Salehe Rashid, a resident of Gongo la Mboto said in an interview recently that, the authorities from forest department of Kisarawe district do charge them a levy amounting to Tsh. 4,000/- for every sack, no matter how many sacks one might be transporting. High levies charged by the district authorities is another compelling problem facing us” he said adding that, this also might have contributed to the rise of the charcoal. According to Salehe who uses his bicycle to transport two sacks for a trip to the market, each sack he carries is charged without knowing the profit he gats from each one of them and after selling he virtually earns a minimal of Tshs. 3,000/- profit for every sack he manage to sell. Statistics shows that, the proportion of people using solid fuels like firewood and charcoal on the main land Tanzania rose from 9-0 percent in 2000 to 94 percent in 2005. The figures also reveals that in Zanzibar, this proportion currently stands at 96 percent.

Piles of sacks are being sold depending on their sizes, sometimes these are sold in retail price at a roadside market place.

Two women who are perplexed after having been told of the current charcoal price by charcoal sellers when they visited a roadside market with intention top buy the commodity.

Other statistical figures have it that more than 46 million cubic meters of fuel wood are required annually on the mainland alone. This does not only reflect the annual loss of forest cover with imminent effects on the environment, but also illustrates the importance that should be accorded to measures targeting the conservation of forest cover which constitutes more than 50 percent of the land surface. What matters is what can be done in order to increase the awareness of the alternative energy sources to forest depletion. Tanzania is currently implementing its policies and plans on how tom save its natural vegetation eg forest. According to one an environmentalist, to reduce further losses, he has urged that the private sector institutions should be more willing to keep their corporate doors open to any initiative aimed at reducing firewood and charcoal demands furthermore to reverse the loss of environmental. Resources. Biomass energy resources accounts for 93 percent pf the total energy consumption. Fuel-wood alone is estimated to account for 97 percent of all fuel consumption and 92 percent of all country’s source of energy.

NEW ADVERTISING STYLE IN DAR

There is a growing tendency formed by some companies to glue the photos depicting their activities as a sign of advertising in a bid to announce their businesses. These occurs in walls or in a fence placed to surround a perimeter in which a construction work takes place as can be seen here, the photos of a newly established graphic designing company which has advertised itself in a wall surround the perimeter of a building under construction. This is the headquarter building of the ZAIN company, a mobile phone operating company under construction at a junction road of Bagamoyo and Kawawa main roads in a famous place known as Morocco in Dar es Salaam.

This is a new style of advertising which has emerged in Dar es Salaam city. It commonly takes place in areas where construction takes place.

This is ac construction site with a sign board that shows the names of the construction companies involved in the project as it’s strategically placed in front as per the CRB rules. Its perimeter is surrounded by a painted iron sheets and a ZAIN kind of an advert seem to have dominated on its side.

This is also another fenced wall painted with different colours and the logo for Tigo, that’s a mobile operating company is drawn on its sides. The scene is at the junction of Sum-Nujoma and Mlimani road in Dar es Salaam.

A cyclist peddling past a painted wall having the logo of Tigo written on its side. Most buildings within the city have been painted in this manner.

Samsung adverts on the walls at Kisutu in central business district in downtown Dar es Salaam.

Two cars speeding along Bibi Titi Mohamed Road at Kariakoo area near the shinning Samsung company’s adverts that shows new types of mobile phones currently manufactured by the company.

A woman police directing traffic on side of the road to avoid congestion at Magomeni traffic lights. But the exercise has never been so helpful during peak hours in the morning and evening time largely due to a great number of vehicles currently running on old city roads which have never been improved since independence time.