Dar es Salaam. Innovations and research can speed up the realisation of Tanzania’s industrialisation dream.

Indeed, the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM) is showing the way. During the 41st Dar es Salaam International Trade Fair (DITF) it displayed its technologies and emerged the overall winner in that field. It said the aim was to contribute towards industrialisation.

The second winner was the Vocational Educational and Training Authority followed by the Property International.

During the fair Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences, Sokoine University of Agriculture and Teofilo Kisanji University also showcased their products.

UDSM’s director for Public Services, Dr Mona Mwakalinga, told The Citizen: “We displayed new technologies whose 100 per cent of raw materials are local and are made locally to foster the government’s agenda of industrialisation.”

Technologies displayed include power generators, gold leaching reactors and maize planter accessories. Power-generation technology converts energy from waterfalls to electricity through turbines coupled with generators.

According to the College of Electrical Engineering and Technology (CoET), Tanzania has 480MW potential from waterfalls. The Small Hydropower Power (SHP) Centre coordinator, Dr Isaac Legonda, said about 80 per cent of power in waterfalls in Tanzania is not exploited. “The technology can catalyse industrialisation in rural areas.”

Conversional industrial machines such as lathe, milling, and shaping as well as fabrication equipment are needed to generate the electricity.

The UDSM Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering also designed a maize planter accessory for small-scale farmers. The planter is attached to an animal-drawn plough so that planting can be done simultaneously with ploughing.

“It therefore improves timeliness of planting, and optimises the use of human labour which is a scanty resource and a bottleneck in the production,” said technology innovator Said Marco, from the Department of Mechanical and Industrial Engineering.

Currently, cultivation and planting are done at different intervals and this is time-consuming and needs a lot of resources. “This project presents a new concept in design of agricultural machinery.”

He said the innovation optimises on time and human power use as the planter is attached directly to an animal-powered plough so that planting is accomplished simultaneously with cultivation.

According to him, the innovation is simple and cheap as it uses much of the structural components of the plough.

A conventional planter would need to have its own support structure frame, wheels to keep it afloat and handles.

UDSM’s gold-leaching reactor is friendly to environment and fit for small-scale gold miners.

Innovator Peter Kaheshi, also of CoET, said the came up with the idea upon realising that small-scale gold miners were facing difficulties to extract the mineral. “It is simple, affordable and efficient technology.”

Small-scale miners have been using gas-powered limestone kiln which took more time to extract gold, with losses being high.

The miners incur losses of 50 percent. With the new technology miners will recover up to 80 per cent of gold.

“Our aim is to help them so that they can benefit from their business and the same time protects their health and the environment. It uses low voltage, “he said.

Operationally, gravity concentrate is loaded in a leach reactor and prescribed amount of water is added to the mixing tank followed by caustic soda, sodium cyanide and leach aid.

A senior lecturer with UDSM’s Institute of Kiswahili Studies, Dr George Mrikaria, said a mobile dictionary had been designed for Kiswahili and English.

Talks are underway with some of mobile phone companies to get agent buyers on the dictionary online.

“Some people have installed the low-cost Kiswahili dictionary in the mobile phones. Ours is different as it has two options of languages: Kiswahili and English.”

Dr Mrikaria said the aim was to promote Kiswahili and assist the government’s attainment of the industrialisation agenda through the lingua franca.”

Industry, Trade and Investment minister Charles Mwijage called upon businesspeople to acquire technologies displayed for expansion.

Tanzania Trade Development Authority acting general director Edwin Rutageruka said that the 41st DITF attracted more than 2,500 exhibitors.

Source: The Citizen