Tanzania is much more than Africa’s magnificent tourist destination, blessed with wildlife sanctuaries, meadows, beaches and high lands. Equally impressive is its indomitable determination to push ahead economically and socially, leveraging its political stability and rich mineral resources. The East African nation has set a target of becoming a middle income country by 2025. That presupposes a vaulting its Gross National Income per capita between US$ 1045 and US$12,736. Is it possible or will it be a pious wish?
His Excellency Baraka H Luvanda
Africa4U caught up with High Commissioner of Tanzania in India, His Excellency Baraka H. Luvanda, who granted us the time in spite of his returning from Singapore the night before and workload that awaited him. Our objective was to understand the country’s strategy in terms of its ambitious development plan and impressive growth trail compared to most of the other African countries.
The data and the narratives the high commissioner had shared with us and the grand plans in the pipeline are impressive, to say the least. It can help the country to stand tall among even the emerging economies. “We are in a trajectory of growth, which is self-propelling. There is no looking back in our development goals. Recent discovery of natural gas, estimated between 45 and 58 trillion cubic feet, can catapult the nation to the league one of the fast moving economies in the continent. That will be supplemented by rich mineral resources like gold, helium, iron ore, diamond, tanzanite, limestone, coal, uranium etc, which can help us in setting up both upstream and downstream projects based on these valuable mineral resources,” says His Excellency, adding that the focus of the country is now value adding to these resources, generate employment and accelerate exports.
The transformation from an agrarian economy to one focusing on manufacturing, processing and services, will not take the sheen out of the agriculture sector. Farming will continue to receive utmost attention in the planning process. Over 75% of the people are dependent on agriculture. That sounds more pragmatic since some of the oil rich African economies put agriculture into the backburner with the result that most agricultural surplus economies have to import food stuff. “We will continue to give importance to agriculture as the mainstay of the country and will make it more technology driven and commercially viable to enhance productivity. Agriculture accounts for 40% of our GDP and we realize close to US$ 1 billion from agricultural exports, which are mostly, tobacco, cashew nut, coffee, fish and horticultural products. We seek to enhance and realize more from agricultural exports”, His Excellency avers.
Investment in social sectors is a barometer of how forward looking a country is. Tanzania fits the bill. It invests heavily in education, particularly modern education with the use of latest tools of technologies like ICT, creating a good infrastructure for technical and collegiate education and research. Healthcare is another area that is receiving active consideration of the government, particularly in providing clean and safe water, making quality medical care accessible to common man at affordable prices etc.
Tanzania is among the preferred destinations for foreign investment in Africa. In 2016, the inflow reached USD 1.36 billion (2.88% of GDP). The current FDI stock is estimated at USD 19.8 billion, 42% of GDP. Investors are attracted to the country’s sound macroeconomic policies, its effective privatization program and rich natural resources. In 2016, a large field of helium gas was discovered in Tanzania, and its exploration is on the anvil. The construction of a large port in Bagamoyo was launched, at a cost of US$ 11 billion. The project is jointly funded by China Merchants Holdings International and Oman Investment Fund.
The mining sector, the oil and gas industry, as well as the primary agricultural products sector -coffee, cashew nuts and tobacco) – draw most FDI. “China, India, Kenya, United Kingdom, Mauritius, Oman, United Arab Emirates, Canada and United States are the country’s primary investors. Germany is investing in the fertilizer sector using gas as the feedstock. The Nigerian business tycoon Aliko Dangote has set up a cement plant in Tanzania which is up and running. It is the largest in Africa and it is using gas generated in Mtwara, Southern Tanzania. We expect many will take advantage of our excellent business environment and channelize investments into the country, particularly in the special economic zones spread across the country” says the High Commissioner.
The vibrant tourism sector beckons many to the country, with its unique tourism spots. Tourism is the top foreign exchange earner. In the recent years, the earnings soared to US$ 2 billion dollars a year, besides providing gainful employment directly and indirectly. The international tourist arrivals are increasing every passing year and presently it is close to 1.5 million.
Naturally, our talks touched upon India-Tanzania economic cooperation. “ I am delighted that it is growing smartly in a variety of sectors, be it agriculture and transport, energy, information technology, education, infrastructure development, healthcare, hydrograph and the list goes on” His Excellency emphasized.
There are a few projects operated by India in providing safe and clean drinking water. The one which was launched in Dar es Salaam was inaugurated by His Excellency President of Tanzania Dr. John PJ Magufuli in 2017. This project is supplying about 140 million litres of drinking water to 700,000 residents of Dar es Salaam. When completed, the project will cater to almost one million people living in the city. India’s presence in agriculture and transport is significant with India supplying 1800 tractors and farm equipment. Besides, India provided 700 trucks and other vehicles to Tanzanian armed forces. Hospitals for cancer treatment, books to students, cooperation in solar energy, capacity building amongst various development agencies etc are some of the other projects being undertaken under the auspices of India-Tanzanian cooperation.
An impressive array of Indian companies is operating in Tanzania. Several leading Indian brands have established their presence in Tanzanian market. That include banking majors like Bank of Baroda and Bank of India, automotive companies like Tata, Ashok Leyland, Escorts, Mahindra, Bajaj, Sonalika etc, major engineering and infrastructure companies like KEC power, L&T, WAPCOS, ICT and telecom companies like Airtel, TCS etc. “In May this year, we signed another line of credit (LoC) with the Government of India for water projects in 23 cities and municipalities. The projects are being executed by both local and Indian companies” says the High Commissioner
What about the projects to connect people of both countries? Every year, 35,000-40,000 Indians visit Tanzania as tourists and among them are some of the top industrialists and their families . Besides, there is a large number of Indians settled in Tanzania pursuing various avocations including trading, services, and small and medium enterprises. “ To top it, we are launching a direct air service between Mumbai and Dar es Salaam to meet the increasing traffic needs between the two countries,” avers the High Commissioner.
