TANZANIA is on the right track in investment innovation and continuity as well as in increasing trade– a key model to drive economic transformation for sustainable and inclusive prosperity.

The country has surged forward with huge pace and resilience in the past five years under President John Magufuli ahead of other East African Community (EAC) partner states and some others in Africa. It was not distracted even by the emergence of the global Coronavirus pandemic.

Under the stewardship of committed leaders, adhering to the ruling party Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM) Election Manifesto for 2015 – 2020, the country has seen continued investment to increase the efficiency and productivity of the Dar es Salaam Port, Central Corridor and One Stop Border Posts (OSBP) and developing agriculture-related economic growth along the Dar es Salaam/SAGCOT corridor to Zambia.

Continuity and Innovation under TradeMark Africa (TMA) has been cooperating with the government of Tanzania in the matter, focusing on inclusiveness by ensuring that women, the poor and small businesses are progressively involved in the local, regional and international trade.

TMA says that its cross-border trade interventions focus on increasing access to information and simplifying trade information and procedures that enable small cross-border business to get started and developed accordingly.

“The strategy provides guidance on the institutional and policy reforms necessary to execute the Vision 2025 and its implementation strategies (notably the Five-Year Development Plan (FYDP) 2016/17– 2020/2021,” TMA says in its statement.

FYDP is for sequenced implementation of the Long-Term Perspective Plan 2011/12–2025/26. The FYDP II has a dual focus of growth and transformation and poverty reduction and thus includes growth focused interventions and were geared and able to transform Tanzania into a middle-income country that has been attained five years ahead of the Vision 2025.

On cards also were industrialisation and human development-focused interventions, which target poverty alleviation. The theme of the FYDP II is Nurturing Industrialisation for Economic Transformation and Human Development.

TMA strategy 2 aligns well with the FYDP II priority areas of fostering economic growth and industrialisation; fostering human development and social transformation; improving the environment for business and enterprise development and strengthening implementation effectiveness.

The FYDP II highlights a number of flagship projects and interventions, most of which align with TMA Strategy 2. Those include skills development and development of the Central, North-West and Mtwara Development Corridors, as well as enhancing trade for growth.

It envisages an important role for the private sector, Public Private Dialogue (PPD) and conducive policy and regulatory environment for trade as an engine of growth.

TMA highlights of programmes from 2017 – 2023 shows outcomes include reduced barriers to trade – improved efficiency and capacity of transport and logistics networks. Details expected by 2023 are increased handling capacity at the Dar es Salaam, Kigoma, Lake Tanganyika ports and Border Crossings.

The conducive investment environment in Tanzania has made the country one of the most preferred destinations for foreign investment in Africa, counting among 10 biggest recipients of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) on the continent.  According to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)’s 2020 World Investment Report, the FDI inflow in Tanzania reached 1.1bn US dollar.

The mining sector, the oil and gas industry as well as the primary agricultural products sector (coffee, cashew nuts and tobacco) draw the most FDI. The country’s primary investors are China, India, Kenya, the United Kingdom, Mauritius, Oman, the United Arab Emirates, Canada, the United States, the Netherlands, South Africa, and Germany.

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Disclaimer: The opinions expressed herein are the author’s and not necessarily those of TradeMark Africa.

Disclaimer: The views and opinions expressed in this article are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the official policy or position of TradeMark Africa.