Rose farmers
in Arusha happy with EA Customs Union
By Fatima Grace Bapumia
Horticulturalists from Arusha have welcomed the East African Community’s Customs
Union which enables them to have easy access to rose plants and farm equipments
from Kenya.
Rose farms in Arusha have had difficulty maximising their profits due to heavy
cost
incurred on farm equipment such as plastics, PVC pipes and irrigation
equipments.
“If a Kenyan wants to buy farm equipment he gets every thing on credit, but for
us
who go to Kenya we need to have cash in hand to buy plants. The dealers do not
know us so we don’t get credit,” said Greyson Mrema, deputy farm manager of the
Le
Fleur de’Afrique rose farm in Arusha. He further explained that, small volume of
plants will produce a small volume of roses, hence minimum profit.
He also explained that apart from buying the plants in cash, they also faced the
problem of heavy taxes being paid at the border for goods bought in Kenya. Mrema
explained that with the EAC Customs Union, they are expecting that the taxes on
farm
equipment from Kenya will be scrapped.
Talking to The Express, Avinash Makote of the Kili Flora in Arusha said, the
Customs
Union will ensure easy access to the international market via Nairobi
International
Airport. “To export our roses to the international market we need to send them
to
Nairobi from Kilimanjaro International Airport and from Nairobi they are sent to
various countries in Europe. With EAC Customs Union we are hoping the freight
charges from Tanzania to Nairobi will drop hence export quantity can go higher,”
he
said.
The largest buyers of roses from Arusha are in Holland, where the roses are
auctioned
to the retailers who then sell them to the end consumers. Other countries buying
roses
from Arusha include Germany, Norway, Sweden, United Kingdom, France and
Switzerland.
Public invited
in preparations for budget
By Express Reporter
The Ministry of Finance has invited stakeholders to submit their
opinion on the tax
system in preparation for the forthcoming financial budget.
According to a statement from the treasury Permanent Secretary, Gray Mgonja, the
task force on the reform will start its proceedings on the preparation of the
budget in
February.
The statement said the task force secretariat would schedule meetings with
stakeholders and the government which will give an update of its policy
objectives,
agenda challenges and its assessment of the task policy priorities for the
budget for
2005/06.
“This will provide participants with the broad context for this year’s
proceedings and
stimulate analysis and discussion of the impact of the various proposals on a
deeper
and broader level,” reads the statement in part.
The government's decision to involve stakeholders in the preparation of the
budget
is a positive gesture to the business community and it is hoped that the
response will be
successful.
Tanga youth
take on tourism challenge
Nestory Ngwega, Tanga
Youths in Tanga Region have come up with a strategy to boost the
tourism sector in
the region and in return reduce poverty among themselves.
The strategy was announced by the chairman of the Tanga Youth Development
Association (TAYODEA), David Chanyaghea in an interview with The Express this
week.
Part of the plan they have in mind is to increase the awareness of the region’s
tourist
attractions through posters and other appropriate means, all with the aim of
putting
Tanga on Tanzania’s tourism map, said Chanyaghea.
He said that Tanga has great tourism potentials but the region’s authority has
yet to
advertise them on a larger scale; as a result very little has been extracted
from the
tourism sector in the region.
He said the youth has taken on the challenge to turn this around and make the
sector
more lucrative for the region’s economy.
For young people this would be a good opportunity Chanyaghea continued. Many of
them would seek employment as tourist guides.
“Our organization was found purposely to help youths to curb poverty through
acquiring employment in the private sector, therefore we must make every effort
to
create more chances for the youth to work,” he said.
He said that already there has been a tourist information centre established at
their
office site which gives various information on tourism in the region.
Despite the efforts being done by youths to reduce the poverty level, they do
not get
enough support from responsible authorities at all levels.
Chanyaghea has asked the government, both central and local authorities, to
increase its acknowledge and support the work being done by the youth.
EAC calls for
greater civil society participation
By Timothy Kitundu
The East African Community (EAC) has acknowledged that one of the causes of the
collapse of previous regional integration arrangements in East Africa was lack
of a
vibrant civil society.
According to information obtained by The Express, this had an effect on official
decision making and implementation of regional programmes.
According to the EAC Update, the new approach will therefore put emphasis on
popular participation in all EAC programmes. “The participation of the various
public
and stakeholders is deemed essential for the effectiveness and sustainability of
the
regional integration,” reads part of the Update.
It further argues that for civil society activities to have an effect, EAC have
to provide
necessary policy framework and effective mechanisms. There must also be a
genuine
commitment of the governments, civil society and the private sector to
participate
accordingly.
In both the Treaty and the Second EAC Development Strategy 2001-2005, EAC has
positively committed itself to encourage and facilitate popular participation.
Its information policy aims at involving the public in constant dialogue,
reflection and
action towards the realization of the mission of regional integration. “The
raising of
awareness about EAC is seen as not only a means to, but also a function of the
development objective of the regional organisation,” reads part of the Update.
Civil society is encouraged to participate effectively in all organs of the EAC,
in
particular the Coordination Committee and Council of Ministers where civil
society
organizations (CSOs) will have observer status under the provisions of the
Treaty.
The Council of Ministers is the highest decision making organ of the Community
and
is where civil society interventions should mainly be directed.
TZ receives
490/- billion grant from EC
By Timothy Kitundu
The government of Tanzania has been allocated a total of Euro 355
million (Tsh. 497
billion) in development grants until 2007 under the 9th European Development
Fund
(EDF). A total of Euro 290 million (Tsh. 406 billion) of the grants comes under
the
programme for long-term development operations.
Joyce Mapunjo from the Ministry of Finance, External Finance Department told the
Non State Actors (NSA) Consultation Workshop in Dare es Salaam that the
agreement
on the grants further makes a provisional allocation of Euro 65.0 million (Tsh.
91
billion) for non programme funds to mitigate effects of fluctuations of export
earnings.
“Part of the non programme funds will also cater for internationally agreed debt
relief
initiatives and humanitarian emergency assistance. Non programmable resources
can
only be accessed if and only if the set criteria are met,” she said.
Under macro economic support, the EC supports the government in its efforts to
combat poverty by contributing to the general budget (Poverty Reduction Budget
Support – PRBS) together with a number of donors.
The implementation procedures, she added, follow the Memorandum of
Understanding signed between the government of Tanzania and development
partners contributing to the PRBS. The support has availed substantial amount of
resources to finance priority sectors as stipulated in the Poverty Reduction
Strategy
Paper (PRSP).
In the education sector, the support is directed to the Education Sector
Development
Programme (ESDP) to attain increased gender-balanced and equitable access to
higher quality basic education.
“Funds will be channelled either through the education budget or through a
basket
fund mechanism, to be set up. Programming of the 9th EDF resources started with
the
review of the performance of PEDP which was concluded in November 2003,” she
said.
The road sector support, according to Mapunjo is aimed at improving the
transport
network to facilitate movement of people and goods. It also supports road sector
policy reform and strengthening institutional capacities.
She said, support is directed toward financing backlog, periodic and routine
maintenance, and development of main road network defined by the government
with focus to high priority corridors.
The just concluded Midterm Review proposes the re-allocation for Trunk Roads
Euro
40.0 million (Tsh. 56 billion), Regional Roads Euro 15.0 million (Tsh. 21
billion), Road
Fund Support Euro 30.0 million (Tsh. 42 billion), Institutional Support (Road
Sector
Management) Euro 10.0 million (Tsh. 14 billion) and Zanzibar Port Rehabilitation
Euro
31.0 million (Tsh. 43 billion).
The last sector under the 9th EDF programme is governance which has a number of
programmes under preparation including the Support for Participatory Development
whose draft financing proposal in support of this initiative for seven districts
in Coast
and Dodoma regions is currently being reviewed by PORALG.
Others include Support to Local Government Reform Programme whereby discussions
are underway with the EC Delegation to see the appropriate mechanism to support
the existing reform programme and the support to Anti corruption strategy whose
review of the previous support is underway to provide input for the new
strategy.
Dar Port
figures up in 2002/03
By Timothy Kitundu
The Dar es Salaam Port, with an annual handling capacity of 10.5
million tonnes,
handled a total of 5,009,599 tonnes in 2002/03 compared to 4,146,524 tonnes in
2001/02.
According to the 2002/03 Tanzania Harbours Authority (THA) Annual Report,
imports
were 4,247,337 tonnes and 762,262 tonnes were exports, an increase of 23.8 per
cent
and 6.6 per cent respectively compared to 2001/02.
In terms of general cargo of which the Port’s annual capacity is 4.5 million
tonnes
(inclusive of containerized cargo), a total of 3,128,408 tonnes were handled
during the
year under review, equal to 69.5 per cent level of utilization.
As for the containerized cargo, the report indicates that the Port has a
capacity to
handle 250,000 TEUs per annum. For the year under review, the port recorded a
remarkable increase by handling a total of 178,154 TEUs compared to 144,902 TEUs
handled in 2001/02.
In terms of the bulk liquid, the port handles bulk liquid at two installations:
the SBM
which is an exclusive facility for handling crude oil tankers of up to 100,000
tonnes
and the Kurasini Oil Jetty (KOJ) for handling white products ships with capacity
of up
to 40,000 tonnes.
In the year under review, the port handled 1,881,191 tonnes of bulk liquid of
which
1,840,565 tonnes were offloaded, an increase of 14.7 per cent compared to
1,604,792
tonnes offloaded in 2001/02, while loaded reached 40,626 tonnes having decreased
by
25 per cent against 54,327 tonnes loaded in 2001/02.
The port serves neighbouring countries of Zambia, Malawi, Rwanda, Burundi, DRC
and Uganda. The port is rated to handle a total of six million tonnes of bulk
liquids
per annum.
EU looks
beyond govt for extended partnership
By Timothy Kitundu
The European Commission has acknowledged that by extending its
partnership to
Non State Actors (NSAs), the Cotonou Agreement has created an important
complementary role to the country’s government and government institutions.
The agreement signed in 2000, constituting the largest financial and political
framework for North-South cooperation, also cements the framework for
development
cooperation between the European Union (EU) and the Africa Caribbean and Pacific
(ACP) countries.
Speaking in Dar es Salaam Tuesday, Ambassador Frans Baan, leading the EC
delegation in Dar es Salaam, said that Cotonou provides for more scope for NSAs
involvement in policy and programme formulation and implementation.
“This extends real opportunities for improved dialogue between the government
and
NSAs, between NSAs and EU on policies, reforms and on development cooperation
between the government of Tanzania and the EU,” he said.
He however said that the opportunities come with new challenges. The new concept
of partnership between the three players sounds great on paper but requires
adapted
approaches in each of the ACP countries.
According to Ambassador Baan, there is no ready-made formula on how a
programme to strengthen NSAs in their new role should look like. In some
countries
NSAs are better organized, and more structured in their dialogue than in others.
“But we are not starting in a vacuum…and we do not intend to reinvent the wheel.
Different levels of engagement in dialogue and development processes exist in
Tanzania which is our point,” Baan said.
He said the recently conducted mapping exercise in eight regions of Tanzania and
the consulting of over 100 NSAs from both civil society and private sector
provides a
snapshot of the types of NSAs in Tanzania and their current forms of engagement
with
the government.
“An important example of this was the government’s efforts to include NSAs in
policy
dialogues during the preparation and review of the Poverty Reduction Strategy
Paper
(PSRP) relying heavily on contributions from civil society and ordinary
citizens,” he
said.
He said, it was the responsibility of the government of Tanzania and the EU to
make
any new opportunities graspable to NSAs here in Tanzania, although it also takes
readiness and willingness on the side of NSAs to grasp opportunities and to
contribute
with skills and experience.
Food prices in
Dar down
By Express Reporter
Food prices in some of Dar es Salaam markets have slightly gone
down; many traders
attribute the trend to the continuing rains.
In an interview with The Express over the weekend Frank Gugga, a Senior Official
of
Tandale Market Committee in Kinondoni Municipal, said farmers are optimistic
that
the rains might lead to good harvests and crops will soon flood the market.
“At least consumers will get a relief as food prices begin to decline,” said
Gugga. We
have witnessed an increased supply of commodities from up country regions.
He said that as of today a kilo of rice from Mbeya costs Tsh. 600 as compared to
Tsh.
750 a month ago. He added that retail prices for rice range between Tsh. 750 and
800
per kilo.
Gugga said rice from places other than Mbeya was sold between Tsh. 500 and Tsh.
550 per kilo, wholesale and retail prices respectively.
The prices of beans ranged between Tsh. 450 and 550 per kilo while retail price
stand
at Tsh. 500 and 600
“There is no big price change for beans and the supply is constant,” the
official noted
adding that the market receives consignments of between 40 and 60 tonnes of rice
and between 10 and 15 tonnes of beans daily.
He said regions from where a majority of commodities come from include Ruvuma,
Morogoro, Rukwa, Kagera and Tanga.
Twiga starts
loan service
By Joshua Mshana
Twiga Bancorp Ltd. has started providing loans to salaried employees from
various
companies.
Gwalugano Mwamukonda, the General Manager of Twiga Bancorp Ltd., said in an
interview with The Express this week that short term loans extended to
individuals
under employment with regular income on permanent terms.
Employees to receive loans come from private and public companies, government
ministries departments, learning and research institutions, non-government
organizations (NGOs), the Parliament and trading firms.
CRDB Bank
issued loans worth 123bn/- in 2004
By Danny Eliah, Dodoma
A total of Tsh. 123 billion has been issued as loans by CRDB Bank to
various sectors of
the economy with the agricultural sector receiving 41 per cent of all the loans
supplied in 2004.
The Bank has seen their loans double in just one year. In 2003 the Bank gave
loans
amounting to Tsh. 60 billion.
CRDB Bank Executive Director Charles Kimei revealed the figures when he
addressed
the public at the inauguration of the Bank’s Branch at Kuu Street in Dodoma
Municipality.
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