Lack of skilful personnel an obstacle to local industries development
Lack of skilful personnel an obstacle to local industries development
By Damas Makangale
Lack of skilled human personnel in various fields of industries has been cited as a major obstacle to Tanzania to attain sustainable social, political and economic development.
Speaking to invited dignitaries during the launching of the World Bank book entitled,” Light Manufacturing in Africa” in Dar es Salaam at the weekend, former Tanzania Investment Centre, Executive Director Emmanuel ole Naiko revealed that Tanzanians should do something on skills to overcome its economics and businesses barriers.
“I would like to emphasize that the most effective way of addressing our weaknesses is to do something about skills,” he said, adding that this should start by reviewing school curriculums.
He explained that reviewing school curriculums would prepare the people, especially the youth, to become entrepreneurs. Ole Naiko said there must be concerted efforts to establish small industries, create more jobs and produce competent labour force that meets global standards.
Citing an example, he said colleges run by the Vocational Education Training Authority (VETA) should specialize in training students on sectors that Tanzania needs the most and subjects which will make the country strong in terms of human resource.
“This will enable our people to develop downstream industries in their localities with the objective of producing semi-finished industrial goods which will be further processed in major cities,” he said.
Ole Naiko noted that the move will encourage young people to work in their home areas, instead of migrating into major towns and cities.
According to him, the same move will encourage big investors to invest in big industries located in major cities where they will further process semi-finished goods from rural areas and therefore export finished goods.
He commended the World Bank experts for the report which will be used to guide countries in the sub-Sahara Africa region in the process of transforming developing economies. “You have done a splendid work,” he said.
Ole Naiko said that statistics from the TIC shows that despite immense potential of light manufacturing industries, the number remains low and if anything, the sector is being overtaken by tourism.
“Something must be done to give the manufacturing sector more incentives to attract new to investments in this sector,” he said.
The country Director of the World Bank to Tanzania, Uganda and Burundi Philippe Dongier said although Tanzania’s economy has been growing at 7 per cent per year, unemployment was still a major problem.
“This report is valuable because it gives us a blueprint for developing this sector by identifying the binding constraints and designing effective policy solutions to address these constraints based on the experience of other developing countries,” he said.
According to the report, light manufacturing can offer a viable path for Tanzania and other sub-Saharan African countries as they transform their economies to create more productive jobs.
The report, which covers Ethiopia, China, Tanzania, Vietnam, and Zambia, is the first research project based on World Bank Chief Economist Justin Lin’s theory of New Structural Economics (NSE).
This theory argues that continual growth can only happen with structural changes. For Africa, continued strong performance will require transforming out of agriculture into areas such as light manufacturing.
“This light manufacturing study can be guide for transforming industrial structure and creating productive jobs, including in the leather, apparel, wood, metal and agribusiness sector in Tanzania,” said Lin.
CEFA wants employment of disables to have own legislation
By Timothy Kitundu
In order to check the ever-increasing gap that exists between people with disabilities and others, the government has been urged to fast track enforcement of disability act passed by the Parliament in 2010 which allows 3 per cent of people with disability to be employed in any public or private organisation.
Speaking in Dar es Salaam recently Economic and Empowerment Area Coordinator of an Italian Ngo CEFA Tanzania, Francis Gugu, said since its enactment the legislative did not come into enforcement.
Under existing Tanzanian law, in companies of 50 employees or more, 2 per cent of the workforce is required to be people with disabilities. In the Persons with Disabilities Bill, which was passed by parliament in April 2010, the level increases to 3 per cent in firms with 20 or more registered employees.
He said it is right time for the government to enforce the act which would enable more people with disability to be employed and improve their lives.
“People with disabilities are facing various challenges including poverty, there is a need to make sure that they get sustainable income through employment which would enable them live like others,” he said.
He said since enacted the government did not show the way, since many people with disabilities are not employed in its departments. However, in reality, few employers are aware of the legal requirements in this area, he added.
The United Nations estimates that in most countries, up to 80 per cent persons with disabilities of working age are unemployed.
A survey done by a local recruitment firm, Radar Development and CCBRT hospital in 126 companies last year revealed that only 186 people with disabilities were employed out of 25,000.
For his part the organisation’s Economic and Empowerment officer Chacha Masero commended local companies which have recognized and start to recruit people with disabilities
It was not easily established total number of people with disabilities employed but Tanzania is estimated to have 3.3million of them.
Masero said people with disabilities make up a large proportion of the population and employing someone with a disability does make business sense because they have a unique appreciation of their job, are very committed and are willing to work hard in order to succeed.
CEFA also runs a project titled ‘LESS is More’ aims to favour social and economic integration of people with disabilities, people living with HIV/Aids, orphans and the caregivers of the groups. The project will also impart to them various skills which would enable to get employment or self employed.
Last year a total of 29 disadvantaged students received their graduation certificates after attending vocational training courses in cooking and house-keeping and bakery. The success of the courses is given by the close collaboration established with the city’s private sector.
Vocational training is particularly effective when it is linked to the labour market, adding that all trainees undergo apprenticeship periods in private firms.
“This allows them to complete their preparations and grants them exposure to what we hope will become their future sector of employment. It is also an important moment for employers, who have the opportunity to evaluate our trainees’ potential,” he said.
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ERPs have propelled up Tanzania’s per capital growth – Report
By Damas Makangale
Tanzania’s average per capita income has increased since the introduction of economic reforms driven by improvements in economic performance, structural reforms, and improved service delivery, according to International Development Association (IDA).
According to IDA recent report, the growth in gross domestic product (GDP) has averaged between 5 percent and 7 percent, underpinning better development results.
The report said that access to primary education is improving, along with solid increases in net enrollment rates. Similarly, under-five child mortality has declined more than a third since 2000.
The study said that the 2007 Household Budget Survey shows that the proportion of people living in poverty has decreased by 2.4 percentage points, to 33.3 percent in 2007 from 35.6 percent of the population in 2001.
Study added that the reduction in the poverty ratio, however, has not been able to compensate for the population growth rate of about 2.9 percent per year.
Consequently, the reduction in the proportion of poor translates to an increase of 1.0 million people living in poverty on mainland Tanzania between 2001 and 2007.
To address the challenge of reducing poverty, Tanzania is working to make its commercial environment easier and more sustainable.
However, stagnating standings in the Doing Business indicators (131st out of 183 countries in the 2010 rankings) underscore the need for further regulatory streamlining.
The report underscored that doing business in Tanzania is further challenged by the fact that only about 14 percent of Tanzanians have access to power and Tanzania ’s transport infrastructure remains insufficiently developed
Airtel Launches “girl empowerment program” for schools
By Timothy Kitundu
• The Girl Empowerment Program” under the theme” Build Your Future”,
aimed at empowering Secondary school girls
As part of its Corporate Social Responsibility initiative, Airtel Tanzania has over the weekend launched “The Girl Empowerment Program” under the theme “Build Your Future”, aimed at empowering Secondary school girls aged 14 to 18 years, in achieving their future career goals and build self confidence amongst young women.
The Girl Empowerment Program is an answer to Airtel as it goes hand in hand with its mission of educating the girl child and creating brand loyalty. Apart from the fact that they need clear rules, consistent consequences for breaking rules and encouragement to do their best, young girls need opportunities outside of school curriculum to learn and develop new skills and interests with other youth and adults.
Speaking during the launch held at Canossa Girls Secondary School Dar es Salaam, Airtel customer Care Director Adrianna Lyamba said”Today we kick start the program this quarter with “Canossa Girls Secondary School in Tegeta.
The Girl Empowerment Program will be an ongoing program which will be done quarterly to Girls Secondary Schools around Tanzania and in this program we will be covering different topics relating to career management, building self confidence and making the right decisions in life.
We will be requesting our own employees to volunteer to speak in schools and share their career experiences and skills with the students. This will enable the students understand what it takes to build a career and select the right career path in life”.
“There is the say that saying, when you educate a women you have educated the whole community, we therefore believe the knowledge acquired will be a great significance to girl’s destiny and for the upcoming generation.
She added, “We are highly committed towards supporting Tanzanian community, apart from Girl empowerment program we have been supporting education sector through Shule yetu program were we provide books to Secondary schools in the country, our aim is to improve education level through availability books to secondary schools students”.
Since we started our books support programme, approximately seven years ago, we have reached more than 800 secondary schools that are spread across the country”
WAN-IFRA introduces mobile news for Africa Grant Scheme
By Timothy Kitundu
The World Association of Newspapers and News Publishers (WAN-IFRA) launched its 2012 Mobile News Grants and Training Scheme on 12 March to provide newspaper companies in Sub-Saharan Africa an opportunity to develop or expand their mobile platforms.
The project aims to increase accessibility of news across mobile platforms in Africa and offer increased news services to communities that may be otherwise underserved. Participating newspapers will receive funding, consultation and training to develop their mobile businesses.
According to Larry Kilman, Director of Communications and Public Affairs, WAN-IFRA Mobile News for Africa grants were made to nine newspapers last year, resulting in the development of 10 mobile news applications.
He says WAN-IFRA will be selecting five more newspapers to participate in 2012 and is accepting applications from those seeking to develop new mobile platforms or improve or expand existing platforms.
The project has also produced a handbook, “Mobile Media Services at Sub-Saharan African Newspapers: a Guide to Implementing Mobile News and Mobile Business,” co-published by WAN-IFRA and the African Media Initiative \ (http://www.africanmediainitiative.org). The handbook can be downloaded without charge from http://tinyurl.com/4y9dcth
Mobile News for Africa is part of a strategic partnership between WAN-IFRA and the Swedish International Development Cooperation Agency (Sida) to advance media development and press freedom worldwide. More on the partnership and its projects can be found at http://www.wan-ifra.org/microsites/media-development
Newspapers are invited to apply for small-scale technical assistance grants of up to 5000 Euros to develop or grow their mobile platforms while simultaneously receiving support via training and consultancy from regional and international experts on mobile web, mobile advertising, mobile election monitoring and a range other topics. Among the key criteria for proposed projects is the potential for economic sustainability.
Concept development and training focused conferences will bring representatives from participating newspapers together on two occasions in 2012 to benefit from the knowledge of experts and share best practices.
Applications will only be accepted from newspapers; applicants may work in partnership with other media outlets or NGOs, but newspapers must lead all projects.
Interested applicants should submit a completed application form and return it via e-mail to Catharine Fulton, Mobile News for Africa project director, at cafulton@me.com. The application form can be downloaded from http://www.wan-ifra.org/node/53874/ (at the bottom of the page) and may also be requested via e-mail from Catharine Fulton.
The deadline for applications is 13 April 2012. Successful applicants will be notified of their acceptance to the program in late April.
WAN-IFRA, based in Paris, France, and Darmstadt, Germany, with subsidiaries in Singapore, India, Spain, France and Sweden, is the global organisation of the world’s newspapers and news publishers.
It represents more than 18,000 publications, 15,000 online sites and over 3,000 companies in more than 120 countries. Its core mission is to defend and promote press freedom, quality journalism and editorial integrity and the development of prosperous businesses.
Give priority to allocation of land to the processing industry - Player
By Timothy Kitundu
To enable producers add value to what ever they process the government has been asked to issue directives to all district councils in the country to allocate enough land for construction of processing plants hence improve quality of products and add value to farmers and processors.
This was said in Dar es Salaam recently by a local food processor identified Ahmad Mkopi when explaining challenges and opportunities in the processing industry.
He said Tanzania has few processing plants which have contributed to retard back development of farmers and processors. "Lack of processing plants have forced us to sell products in raw form hence earn meager income as compared with processed ones, this is not healthy for the growth of this industry," he noted.
He said there is a need for the government through its departments to set aside ample land for the construction of processing plants which would enable reduce post harvest losses which now stand at between 40 to 60 percent nationwide.
Available statistics shows that Tanzania`s food processing industry processes only about 1percent of the available raw materials which compares very poorly with 40-50 percent in Thailand, 78 percent in the Philippines, and 83 percent in Malaysia, which all fall under the category of developing countries.
It is estimated that over 90 percent of all products particularly fruits is exported in raw form, through the trade Tanzania is known to lose billions of shillings every year.
Mkopi who is the Executive officer of Association of Mango growers (Amagro) said agro-processing industry in Tanzania is still at an infancy stage and appropriate incentives must be put in place for forward linkage in agriculture.
In his comments Musa Mwakila said to address the shortcomings of post-harvest losses, the government needs to take several strategic steps and that the government should entail the ban of export of some primary products and increased tariffs on the importation on competing products.
According to him more stringent government regulatory bodies to curb dumping of low processed agro-products to protect local processors against unfair competition. Adding that the government needs to develop a high quality packaging industries to cater for increased packaging of agro-processing products.
He said Tanzanian manufacturers fail to access foreign markets due to poor packaging technology which also hinders the development of the industry.
In a move to support manufacturers, last July the government launched a packaging technology centre (PTC) housed within TBS premises. The center is expected to commence its operations later on this year.
The centre was established by government of Tanzania in collaboration with Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA), Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs (SECO) and United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO).
KCB Tanzania supports regional hospital with 10m/- worth tools
By Timothy Kitundu
Morogoro regional which so far has been accorded the designate of a referral hospital is among the few that strive to attend a numerous number of patients with limited equipment, it has been reliably leant.
It is under this context that KCB Tanzania Morogoro branch decided to slash from its profits and support this hospital a total of four maternal hospital beds, couple with maternal surgical equipment all valued at Tshs. 10 million.
Carlos Msigwa, KCB Morogoro regional Manager recently said that expectant mothers is a group that is faced with numerous challenges towards attaining the delivery services hence the bank has decided to give support to this hospital which accumulates many women at a time.
“To give back to the society part of the profits accrued, we have decided to donate 10 maternity beds and delivery equipment to this hospital to enable this hospital offer safe delivery services to expectant mothers,” he said.
Speaking on behalf of the Regional Commissioner, Esther Lauo who is Deputy Regional Secretary said the hospital serves more expectant mothers compared to its capability hence appealed to all well wishers to continually support the hospital so that it can cater to its requirements.
Expounding more she said, for a referral hospital ranking as Morogoro to have shortages of surgical equipment and ultra sound machines incapacitates to offer services especially in the events of the occurrence of road accidents.
“The support we have received would at least reduce the shortage of paraphernalia as we have been serving patients from the neighbouring regions of Dodoma. Iringa, Coast and Morogoro itself a factor that has demanded the need for more both equipment and specialists,” she said
Frida Mokiti, Morogoro Regional Medical Officer commended KCB for responding to their appeal and called upon all other well wishers and players to respond positively to the whenever a plea is raised.
Apart from that support, KCB also had donates Mathematics textbooks to Ujirani primary school situated at Kiegea Kihonda Morogoro all valued at Tshs. 2 million.
This school which was being run by one Sadick Kisenga, a pastoralist started with only one classroom but until last year it has produced three specifically talented pupils out of the four who completed standards seven
Recognising the importance of rural women towards their contribution to economic development
By Timothy Kitundu
A few weeks back Tanzania joined other countries worldwide to mark the International Women ’s Day that carried various messages emphasising equality whereas the theme for this year’s celebrations was “Connecting Girls, Inspiring Futures".
The International Labour Organisation (ILO) and the Christian Aid were not left behind as they had messages of inspiration. The ILO Tanzania office sent a special message by Juan Somavia Director-General of the ILO on that occasion.
International Women’s Day is celebrated on 8th March of each year. This year’s event focuses on recognizing the important contribution of rural women across the world to the well-being of their families and communities and in sustaining societies and economies.
“Today we celebrate International Women’s Day by recognizing the important contribution of rural women across the world to the well-being of their families and communities and in sustaining societies and economies. We call for action to ensure that all rural women can live and work in dignity,” Somavia stressed..
Women comprise around 43 per cent of the agricultural labour force in developing countries, and more than 70 per cent of the labour force in some agriculture-intensive economies.
Working as farmers, wage labourers, and entrepreneurs, rural women also take on a disproportionate share of the responsibility of caring for children and the elderly. Through these multiple roles rural women have a fundamental part to play in achieving rural development.
Rural women are paid less than men and often lag behind in access to education, training, technologies and mobility. They also work longer days than men, taking both paid and unpaid work into consideration.
Much of their work remains unrecognized because it is not remunerated and confined to the domestic sphere. With a continuing economic crisis it is expected that in most countries women’s unpaid work is likely to increase, diminishing their ability to engage in productive activities.
Rural women everywhere face gender-related constraints that limit their access to decent work as well as their productivity. Enhancement of women’s productive capacity depends on better access to decent jobs and control over productive resources. If they are given the opportunity to realize their full potential all stand to benefit.
It is time for change and it is timely to recall that there is a decent work route out of poverty. With gender equality a guiding principle, the ILO promotes decent work for all. Promoting respect for fundamental principles and rights at work and social dialogue, promoting employment creation and enterprise development, and improving access to social protection, the ILO supports rural women’s fight to live in dignity, through access to more and better jobs.
This agenda empowers, it is a pathway to sustainable development. With integrated action, it enables women and men to break the vicious cycle of poverty. Applied to the rural economy what does it take?
• Respecting freedom from discrimination as a fundamental right supported by all policies affecting the rural sector;
• With freedom of association, organization gives strength and voice to rural women;
• Ensuring that equity and equality begin early with action to keep girls as well as boys in school up to the minimum age for entry into employment – respecting the right to freedom from child labour;
• Enhancing women’s capacity to engage in productive work – through education and training, opening up their access to productive resources and expanding employment opportunities including through support for rural enterprises, infrastructural development and in promoting rural green jobs;
• A decent work approach can go a long way towards closing the gender gap in agriculture and enabling rural women to work out of poverty. The impact would be great. The Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) estimates for example that reducing the poverty gap would reduce the number of undernourished people worldwide by as much as 100 to150 million.
There is much good experience to draw upon and scale up, backed by international support in policy and practice.
“On this day, I applaud rural women and ask everyone to recognize their contributions. It is time to unleash the full potential of rural women so that they can take their proper place in efforts to achieve a fair and equitable global economy,” Somavia argues.
A message from Christian Aid reveals that gender equality is central to meeting the needs of the worlds poorest and most vulnerable people – men and women alike – concludes a new ACT Alliance report launched to mark International Women’s Day on March 8.
The report “Clapping with Both Hands: 15 Studies of Good Practice in Promoting Gender Equality” celebrates innovative ACT programmes championed by brave women and men in 13 countries – from Guatemala to Indonesia, Mozambique to Nepal – that have enhanced the voice of women in workplaces, government and society at large.
“Gender equality and women’s empowerment are at the heart of ACT Alliance’s vision for a better and more just world,” said general secretary John Nduna. “While there has been progress on gender equality in some countries, women in many parts of the world suffer from violence, discrimination and under-representation in decision-making processes.
He said that when a humanitarian crisis occurred, gender inequalities were thrown into relief even more acutely.
The situation in the Democratic Republic of the Congo is a case in point. An estimated 1000 women a day are raped in the DRC, earning it the epithet of “rape capital of the world.” Soldiers are some of the main perpetrators of the crime, instilling fear and mistrust in communities across the country.
The case study “Loving your enemies: working with soldiers to reform the army” describes how ACT member Christian Aid and its partner, the Central African Baptist Community, are training the army, judicial system and communities on civilian rights and ending sexual violence in order to put an end to impunity.
“I feel proud of myself for speaking out about what he did to me, and I feel much more at ease, to know he is being punished,” said one woman who was supported by ACT to press charges against her rapist.
By training soldiers, police officers, courts and community leaders, providing support to rape survivors and hosting symbolic reconciliation events, the innovative programme has started to build new, more accountable, relationships between soldiers and civilians.
Clapping with Both Hands highlights 14 other projects describing a range of programmes from peace-building to women’s political participation, sexual health campaigns to female-run micro-enterprises. In Senegal, young women who are taught safe sex and how to form healthy relationships are becoming mentors to girls in their neighbourhoods.
In Mali, campaigns to get more women on the election trail have resulted in the number of women candidates jumping by 42 per cent in some regions. The report demonstrates how all aspects of life and all members of the community must have the will to change in order for real transformation to occur.
ACT hopes that the case studies will inspire development practitioners around the world and spark new energy for gender equality in different contexts. The report’s title, clapping with both hands, signifies the need for women and men to work together on strategies promoting gender equality and gender justice: that’s when the applause can really begin.