Tanzania faces shortage of engineers

THE Registrar of National Engineers Registration Board (ERB) Engineer Steven Mlote has said that, Tanzania is still faced with a large number of shortage of qualified engineers of every discipline in the country. He said last week in Dar es Salaam that, various engineering colleges and higher learning engineering institutions accredited in the country produces only 1,500 engineering graduates annually against the required number of 7,500 engineers from every disciplines who are required to be produced annually. He further noted that, currently statistics shows that the country faces the shortage of 44,000 engineers as at present there are only 11,000 registered engineers, while the actual demand is 55,000 engineers. He told journalists in a meeting as a Chairperson and a convener of the Sait Joseph University in Tanzania (SJUIT) when he met them during the occasion of launching the scholarship scheme and how the SJUIT has put down its strategies to help the needy people. He said SJUIT has offered full scholarships which will be introduced to students pursuing diploma programs, and this is in a bid to motivate youths pursuing different programs in engineering studies. He said the scholarship scheme will help to meet the demand of skilled workforce in the field of engineering.“In an effort to address the shortage of engineers and technicians in the country, SJUIT has introduced full scholarships to first three secondary students in every region who completed ordinary level (Form four examinations) with effect from last year, and were not lucy to be selected for Advanced secondary education, then were liable to apply for the scheme in order to enable them to pursue a diploma program at the university” he said. Additionally, other beneficiaries of this scholarship grant would be those students in every school who scored the top position and those would be offered partial tuition fee, while the institution will offer free accommodation facilities such as hostels to female students who will join the university in an effort to increase the number of female students taking science subjects. According to Engineer Mlote, diploma programs to be converted includes Civil Engineering, Mechanical engineering, Electrical engineering, Electronics engineering, Electronics and Communication engineering and computer science and engineering. Any student joining a diploma course can pursue a corresponding degree at a later stage by joining laterally in the second year of the program. The SJUIT Council President Dr. Thompson Ananth said during the occasion that, his university was committed to the development of youths in this nation and their efforts to promote science and technology in the country. He stressed that, the demand for skilled workforce was increasingly becoming crucial in the country taking into account that it is one of the fastest developing sectors in the country.

The Minister upholds BoC initiative program for poor people

THE Minister for Community Development Ms. Sofia Simba has congratulated Barclays-Plan-CARE joint initiative program known as Banking on Change (BoC) that is aimed at penetrating financial services to poor people in Tanzania. The Minister gave the call last week in Dar es Salaam at a cork party organized by the Barclays Bank to celebrate the successes of the Banking on Change (BoC) initiative, saying that the program has brought significant improvement of the lives of the people in six urban districts in the country. BoC initiative has been implemented in Mwanza urban, Dar es Salaam urban, Geita, Kibaha, Kisarawe and Ifakara districts respectively being pilot projects since its inception in 2009. It has been going on for almost three years and aims to improve the quality of life of poor people by extending and developing access to financial services. Indeed it has brought together expertise, financial resources and independent interests for the common good. The Managing Director of the Barclays Bank Tanzania branch, Maina Kihara noted during the occasion that, “BoC initiative is an example of a PPP that is working and truly making a difference in households in Tanzania. The initiative according to him, seeks to address the concerns of financial literacy, entrepreneurship, and job creation so that people at grassroots level are learning to save, lend to one another and develop the discipline needed to be able to transition into the formal economy. According to him, the penetration of financial services in Tanzania has been limited mostly to the urban areas. And even in the urban areas, the percentage of the population accessing any form of formal financial system is wanting. Explaining into details essence of the program, he recalled the last study published by Financial Sector Deepening Trust (FSDT) in 2009, and the picture may have improved slightly today with the increased number of players in the financial system.

THE Minister for Community Development Ms. Sofia Simba He says the percentage of the bankable population accessing formal financial services is smaGll. Coupled with that, however he noted that, Financial illiteracy, lack of physical presence of financial institutions are amongst the barriers that have been listed to explain this state of affairs. Banking on Change, focuses on savings-led finance whereby savings groups known as Village Savings and Loans Associations (VSLAs) are established. Through training and support from the implementing partner, Plan, the members of the groups learn not only how to save but also how to lend to one another. The groups select their own leaders, determine their own rules, structure and interest rates. The group members keep each other in check – hence they are self-moderating and self-selection groups which has meant that the rates of default among the members of any one group is low. After two years, the VSLAs graduate and aggregate to form Input Marketing Associations (IMAs) for the purpose of strengthening their groups and accessing additional resources. The IMAs are structured, registered at the district level hence recognised by local government. Currently the bank has more than 1,800 VSLAs and over 60 IMAs operating. Maina noted that, the bank's target in Tanzania is to form 2,400 VSLAs and reach a minimum of 60,000 households.

Despite high business competition, ACB maintains its customers

AKIBA Commercial Bank (ACB) has reinterated its needs to continue maintaining its customers despite of various challenges facing the banking sector in the country. The Bank's Head of Marketing and Communications Ms. Mary Mbelle said in an interview early this week that, “the bank has provided its customers with excellent service in order to retain them”. She said due to recent increased number of banks in the country, the trade competition has become more stiffer, therefore in view of this, ACB undertakes to expand the bank’s range of products and delivery channels with use of technology to reduce transaction costs for both the customer and the bank. Despite of current stiff competition, the bank competes with the rest of the banks and it still covers a larger market share for talent and skills in the country. When asked about the last quarter performance for the year ending 2011, she said ACB has made a profit of Tsh. 956 million. Loans and deposits exceeded expectations and reached Tsh. 86 million. She further noted that, loan volume reached to Tsh. 64 billion within the trading period, the bulk of which was provided to very Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). Apart from usual facilities, others were to individual and corporate customers.

Tegeta Branch Signage, One of the Akiba branch office in Tegeta on the outskirts of Dar es Salaam city. The bank's General Manager Finance, Lefani Yakobe commented that, the success story was achieved even though there was high and increasing inflation, increase in cost of funds influenced by rates of the government paper, intermittent power supply and exchange rate fluctuation of local currency against major trading currencies. According to him, the success of this story was achieved even though there was high and increasing inflation, the increase in cost of funds was influenced by the rates of the government paper. However, he said and added that, the bank's profits which generated during 2011 trading period shall be re-invested in business in order to fund the bank's expansion activities as per the bank's business plans which is in line with the on-going product development initiatives. The year 2012 is a brighter future with promising potentials for the bank's growth. The bank expects to see Mwanza branch is in operation and most of the already newly established branch offices for the bank begins to profitably contribute to the business. In terms of the engagement on social and corporate responsibilities, the bank has put in place a policy that focus the needy people such as charity groups and special schools for physically challenged children, community development initiatives and people affected by natural tragedies. In line with corporate responsibilities, ACB ensures that it takes concrete steps to protect their clients from potentially harmful financial products and ensure that they are treated fairly through appropriate policies and practices.

Japan donation to Tanzania extends to Tsh. 18 billion

TANZANIA government has benefited US Dollar 6.1 million (Tsh. 18 billion) worth of projects as donation from the government of Japan for the last five years since 2007 up to December 2011. The money which had been issued through Grant assistance scheme for Grass root Human Security Project (GGHSP) promoted various development projects in sectors of health, education, water supply and in other social and economic activities for the people's welfare. The Japanese Ambassador accredited into the country, Masaki Okada said early this week in Dar es Salaam that, “his government will continue to issue such a grant assistance to Tanzania wherever need arises”. However, he said adding that, “a total of 71 projects had been executed through this grant assistance on behalf of his government within the said period, and that each grant project had a value of an average of approximately US Dollar 83,000 (Tsh. 12.4 million). He said that, half of the total money spent within the period went to education sector, whereby construction and rehabilitation work of government's school's dormitories, classrooms and laboratories and many others was done. The Japanese government has been a major donor funding country to Tanzania through GGHSP scheme which has been offering a financial assistance scheme for various social and economic development projects which are designed to meet the diverse needs of the people. The Japanese funding scheme supports community participatory projects proposed by the needy organizations such as Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), Local government Authorities, Community based Organizations and Government hospitals in the country in the manner that the ownership and reliable planning of applicants are highly respected for the implementation of the projects. The GGHSP has acquired an excellent reputation for providing flexible and timely support to development projects at a grassroots’ level as the scheme has a direct impact on the well being of the people in the community.

Swahili language and its original culture

The Swahili language is basically of Bantu (African) origin. It has borrowed words from other languages such as Arabic probably as a result of the Swahili people using the Quran written in Arabic for spiritual guidance as Muslims. The Islam practiced by Swahili peoples is often very strict. Most of the requirements of the religion are practiced by most of the people. The economic success of the Swahili throughout the coastal region has encouraged many of their inland neighbors to adopt Islam as well. As regards the formation of the Swahili culture and language, some scholars attribute these phenomena to the intercourse of African and Asiatic people on the coast of East Africa. The word "Swahili" was used by early Arab visitors to the coast and it means "residents of the coast". Ultimately it came to be applied to the people and the language. Regarding the history of the Swahili language, the older view linked to the colonial time asserts that the Swahili language originates from Arabs and Persians who moved to the East African coast. Given the fact that only the vocabulary can be associated with these groups but the syntax or grammar of the language is Bantu, this argument has been almost forgotten. It is well known that any language that has to grow and expand its territories ought to absorb some vocabulary from other languages in its way. According to the earliest known document recounting the past situation on the East African coast written in the 2nd century AD in Greek language by anonymous author at Alexandria in Egypt called the Periplus of Erythrean Sea, suggested that Swahili is an old language. The document clarified that merchants visiting the East African coast at that time from Southern Arabia, used to speak with the natives in their local language and they inter-married with them. Those who suggested that Swahili is an old language pointed to this early source for the possible antiquity of the Swahili language. It is an undeniable truth that Arab and Persian cultures had greatest influence on the Swahili culture and the Swahili language. To demonstrate the contribution of each culture into the Swahili language, take an example of the numbers as they are spoken in Swahili. "moja" = one, "mbili" = two, "tatu" = three, "nne" = four, "tano" = five, "nane" = eight, "kumi" = ten, are all of Bantu origin. On the other hand there is "sita" = six, "saba" = seven and "tisa" = nine, that are borrowed from Arabic. The Swahili words, "chai" = tea, "achari" = pickle, "serikali" = government, "diwani" = councillor, "sheha" = village councilor, are some of the words borrowed from Persian bearing testimony to the older connections with Persian merchants. The Swahili language also absorbed words from the Portuguese who controlled the Swahili coastal towns (c. 1500-1700AD). Some of the words that the Swahili language absorbed from the Portuguese include "leso" (handkerchief), "meza" (table), "gereza" (prison), "pesa" ('peso', money), etc. The Swahili bull-fighting, still popular on the Pemba island, is also a Portuguese legacy from that period. The Swahili language also borrowed some words from languages of the later colonial powers on the East African coast - English (British) and German. Swahilized English words include "baiskeli" (bicycle), "basi" (bus), "penseli" (pencil), "mashine" (machine), "koti" (coat), etc. The Swahilized German words include "shule" for school and "hela" for a German coin. For centuries, Swahili remained as the language for the people of the East African coast.

Young ladies dressed in traditional Swahili style of the coastal people. Long-time interactions with other people bordering the Indian Ocean spread the Swahili language to distant places such as on the islands of Comoro and Madagascar and even far beyond to South Africa, Oman and United Arab Emirates. Trade and migration from the Swahili coast during the nineteenth-century helped spread the language to the interior of particularly Tanzania. It also reached Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi, Congo, Central African Republic, and Mozambique. Christian missionaries learned Swahili as the language of communication to spread the Gospel in Eastern Africa. So, the missionaries also helped to spread the language. As a matter of fact the first Swahili-English dictionary was prepared by a missionary. During the colonial time, Swahili was used for communication with the local inhabitants. Hence the colonial administrators pioneered the effort of standardizing the Swahili language. Zanzibar was the epicenter of culture and commerce, therefore colonial administrators selected the dialect of the Zanzibar (Unguja) town as the standard Swahili. The Unguja dialect (Kiunguja) was then used for all formal communication such as in schools, in mass media (newspapers and radio), in books and other publications. Now Swahili is spoken in many countries of Eastern Africa. For Tanzania, deliberate efforts were made by the independent nation to promote the language (thanks to the efforts of the former head of state, Mwalimu Julius K. Nyerere. Tanzania's special relations with countries of southern Africa was the chief reason behind the spread of Swahili to Zambia, Malawi, South Africa, and other neighbouring countries to the south. Swahili is the national as well as the official language in Tanzania. Almost all Tanzanians speak Swahili proficiently and are unified by it. In Kenya and Uganda, it is the national language, but official correspondence is still conducted in English. Thus, Swahili is the most widely spoken language of eastern Africa and many world institutions have responded to its Diaspora. It is one of the languages that feature in some world radio stations such as, the BBC, All India Radio, Radio Cairo (Egypt), the Voice of America (U.S.A.), Radio Deutschewelle (Germany), Radio Moscow International (Russia), Radio Japan International, Radio China International, Radio Sudan, and Radio South Africa. The Swahili language is also making its presence in the art world - in songs, theatres, movies and television programs. For example, the lyrics for the song titled "Liberian girl" by Michael Jackson, has Swahili phrases: "Nakupenda pia, nakutaka pia, mpenzi we!" (I love you, and I want you, my dear!). The well-celebrated Disney movie, "The Lion King" features several Swahili words, for example "simba" (lion), "rafiki" (friend), as the names of the characters. The Swahili phrase "hakuna matata" (No troubles or no problems) was also used in that movie. The promotion of the Swahili language is not only in its use but also deliberate efforts are made throughout the world to include it in education curriculum for higher institutions of learning. It is taught in many parts of the world.

Standard Chartered Bank announces record profits for 2011

Standard Chartered Bank has announced a ninth consecutive year of record profits and income in 2011. Its continued performance is underpinned by strong capital and liquidity and multiple sources of income across the faster-growing markets of Asia, Africa and the Middle East. Income was up 10 per cent to US$17.64 billion and operating profit increased 11 per cent to US$ 6.78 billion. The Group now has 24 markets generating income and 14 producing profits of more than $100 million. The diversity of different businesses and geographic markets gives the Bank resilient income momentum and enables it to grow even when some markets have a difficult year. In each of the last five years, it has increased capital levels, staff numbers, earnings per share and dividends, as well and income and profits. Over the same period total lending has increased by 91 per cent. The Group has a policy of maintaining a strong capital and liquidity position, which enables it to stay open for business and take market share through the economic cycle in core areas of business such as trade finance. At the end of 2011, the Core Tier 1 ratio was 11.8 per cent and advances to deposits ratio was 76.4 per cent. The Group has no direct sovereign exposure to Greece, Ireland, Italy, Portugal or Spain. During the year, customer deposits grew by 11 per cent to US$ 352 billion and lending to customers by 9 per cent to US$ 269. Cost growth was in line with income growth, at 10 per cent, despite the UK Bank Levy of US$ 165 million. Staff numbers were up by some 1,600 over the year to nearly 87,000. Consumer Banking income climbed 12 per cent to US$ 6.79 billion and profit 26 per cent to US$ 1.65 billion as the transformation programme continued. The business benefited from selective growth in unsecured assets, improving deposit margins and the impact of the investments made in 2010. Good income growth was seen in all the High Value Segments of Private Banking, up 21 per cent, SME, up 14 per cent, and Priority Banking up, 10 per cent. The business has continued to standardise processes and improve cost efficiency. The focus on the strong fundamentals continues, with a low average loan-to-value of around 49 per cent on mortgages, and a well-diversified and strongly-secured loan book. The business has continued to standardise processes and improve cost efficiency to increase investment capacity. Staff numbers in Consumer Banking were up by over 1,200, mainly in China, Singapore, Hong Kong and Africa. The Bank opened 35 new branches in 2011, including 19 in China. In addition the Bank has updated more than 400 ATMs, enhanced mobile and Internet banking capabilities and increased marketing spend year on year. Wholesale Banking income and profit were both up 9 per cent, to US$10.85 billion and US$5.22 billion respectively. Client income, 82 per cent of the total, grew by 10 per cent as the Bank continued to do more business with its existing clients and invest in products and services to meet their needs. Income remains well diversified, with double-digit growth in the three largest businesses, Transaction Banking, Financial Markets and Corporate Finance. Within Transaction Banking, Trade income was up 9 per cent to US$ 1,595 million as volume growth more than compensated for year-on-year margin falls, and Cash Management income grew 27 per cent to US$ 1,652 million. Financial Markets, which includes Foreign Exchange, Rates, Commodities and Equities, Capital Markets and Credit, is linked to the Transaction Banking services provided to clients, which gives it resilience despite difficult market conditions. Income was up 12 per cent to US$3,688 million. Corporate Finance income was up 10 per cent to US$1,873, having closed 15 per cent more transactions compared to the previous year, and after a very strong finish to 2011. Wholesale Banking benefits from the Group’s strong international network and franchise, with 48 per cent of income generated from clients doing business outside their home markets. Overall loan impairment was up 3 per cent. In Consumer Banking loan impairment decreased by 9 per cent to US$ 524 million, but increased in the second half of the year reflecting the changing size and the mix of the loan book. The Bank remains comfortable with overall exposures. Wholesale Banking Loan impairment in 2011 was US$384 million, up 26 per cent on 2010, with the vast majority of this loan impairment charge relating to increased provisioning on previously impaired accounts. Credit quality across the book remains strong and the Group continues to be disciplined and proactive in its approach to risk management. Standard Chartered Bank is a leading international banking group. It has operated for over 150 years in some of the world's most dynamic markets and earns more than 90 per cent of its income and profits in Asia, Africa and the Middle East. This geographic focus and commitment to developing deep relationships with clients and customers has driven the Bank’s growth in recent years. The bank is listed on the London and Hong Kong stock exchanges as well as the Bombay and National Stock Exchanges in India.

Enjoy the pictorial scene as some photos will make you laugh

When I read the caption of this photo, I really laughed. The writer compared a mindset of the carrier as being the same as the goat he has carried on his back. The difference is that, the carrier rides on a motor bike. It seems as if in some parts of this world, there are some people who do not care the rights of tamed animals as the law demand.


It is all like American NINJA Films we used top see some years ago. You might have wondered how these soldiers jumped out of this open car in which they were traveling, and what were they targeting as it is not seen. May be the military exercise undertaken is an effective practice to make them look so strong to withstand any condition around.

It is unusual to see a European preparing an African food, popularly known in our local Swahili language ‘Ugali’. This man must have stayed longer with people of African origin, as Ugali is the common staple food of the entire community members.


The caption of this photo of a dramatic scene tells itself. You do not need to be clarified when it comes to taking food, every creature takes a chance to save its life without shame.

What do you think might have been the reason why this pick up has depressed down its body? Do you think the owner did not realize this when loading such bunches of bananas on board? To my perception, I think the owner thought the body of his pickup was stronger enough to withstand the weight of these bananas on board. But the most probably reason is that, outdated cars are allowed to run along the road without checking of their quality to see if they are built properly.