The US-Africa Leaders Summit began yesterday where nearly US$1 billion in business deals and increased funding for peacekeeping is expected to be announced.

Similar Africa gatherings hosted in recent years by China, India, Japan and the continent’s former colonial master Europe, the US will showcase her interest in Africa through a series of government-private partnership deals to boost trade and investment.

A number of new deals are expected in agriculture and food and power and energy as America seeks to intensify its influence and economic clout on the fast-growing region.

President Jakaya Kikwete is among the invitees and has used the occasion to sell Tanzania to the world’s richest nation.

He said the East African nation could absorb ten times more of the current US trade and investment volume. He said Tanzania could do better than the current US$ 4.5 investments and US$ 328.8 million worth of volume of trade from the US.

We see that President Kikwete’s remarks as realistic if you consider Tanzania’s abundant natural resources , competitive advantages over her neighbours and major reforms undertaken to encourage the growth of the private sector as the engine of growth.

Tanzania, like many African countries, has put in place good macroeconomic policies and governance that are leading to higher economic growth.

The country is also striving to create more conducive environment for trade and investments. However, we see that we still have so much to do to make the country the most attractive investment destination in the region so as to tap more trade and investments from America.

One of the areas to look at closely should be the business environment in the country which is still seen as challenging. We need to step up reforms to ease the challenges in doing business in Tanzania and particularly address the problems of overly bureaucratic procedures in starting a business.

The US-Africa Leaders summit should be taken as another opportunity to spur growth and development through increased trade and investments for the benefit of the nation.

Source URL: Tanzania Daily News

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.