BY GODFREY OBONYO
10th November 2014
Want private sector to play bigger role in development
TPSF Chairman Dr Reginald Mengi said at a dinner he hosted in Dar es Salaam at the weekend for a delegation from the Minnesota centre that the thrust of the initiative would be on spearheading private sector participation in national development drives.He said the initiative would seek to encourage more US firms to invest in the country while also ensuring that as many members of the business community in Tanzania as possible benefited from investment opportunities in the US.
Dr Mengi explained that the plan would cover a wide array of development sectors, including agriculture, information and communication technology, transportation, microfinance, education, health, minerals and energy and tourism.
He added that the idea was to ensure profitable production meeting the nation’s current social and economic demands.
Dr Mengi told the delegation, which was led by Minnesota Congressman Keith Ellison, that TPSF saw the trade cooperation helping Tanzania produce more and better goods and services both for export and for the country’s own market.
“As the apex body for private sector organisations in Tanzania, TPSF is devoted to mutual commitment to foster bilateral business and trade ties between the business communities in our two countries,” he said.
Accordingly, the TPSF Chairman appealed for greater investment in the development and use of human capital and natural resources in developing local capacity alongside encouraging foreign investment in the form of funding and transfer of technology and skills.
He dismissed as “baseless” suggestions that TPSF has been discouraging foreign investments, saying: “We have been encouraging direct foreign investment that tallies with the concept of local private sector participation, but some people have failed to clearly understand this concept.”
“TPSF encourages foreign investment and is working together with Tanzanian companies to ensure there is a level playing field for the benefit of all players,” elaborated Dr Mengi, adding that TPSF is in the forefront of efforts to increase foreign investment in Tanzania and ensure members of the business community in Tanzania cooperate with foreign investors.
Dr Mengi explained that development of the private sector has always received great attention from international partners as well as governments, with encouraging focus put on development.
“We must promote values of bilateral relations so as to develop a platform for the business communities in the two countries to meet, discuss and explore opportunities in trade, investment, transfer of technology, services and products exchange,” he said.
Congressman Ellison was optimistic that efforts by TPSF would bear the expected fruit, including ensuring that the business and general cooperation between the two countries helped the partners to quickly identify opportunities for more investments so as to quicken social and economic development.
“We need to stress that the cooperation should not only benefit the two countries’ private sectors but should also contribute to the healthy and long-term development and bilateral relations between our two friendly nations,” he said, adding: “This event (the dinner) is another significant milestone and will work for successful and beneficial mutual cooperation.”
The Congressman was upbeat that the cooperation agreement “will help us to better integrate into the local (Tanzanian) society and find more business opportunities based on the country’s geographical location”.
He noted that it was of strategic importance that Tanzania was a gateway to the outside world and “the best place from which to make huge business within sub-Saharan Africa”.
Another member of the delegation, Consul Kjell Bergh, also applauded TPSF for work well done.
“We are pleased to see that the private sector has become an important force in efforts to promote Tanzania’s social and economic development, with TPSF a key institution playing an invaluable role in this,” he said.
Bergh hailed TPSF “for adhering to the principle of serving the private sector by actively safeguarding its interests, working on maintaining close communication with the government and building for itself key influence in promoting Tanzania’s economic and social development”.
In his remarks, Tanzanian business executive Ami Mpungwe said the bilateral cooperation TPSF was out to foster was commendable because it held the promise of further elevating and diversifying trade relations between Tanzania and the US.
“This gives an overview of a strategic plan and trade framework meant to guarantee that Tanzanians participate competitively in this new economic era,” said the retired ambassador.
Meanwhile, TPSF Managing Director Godfrey Simbeye said Tanzania had put in place policies aimed at creating “considerable opportunities for Tanzanian and foreign investors”.
He said that alongside the vast natural resources it is endowed with, “Tanzania offers an attractive climate for investment not only through the government but thanks to the involvement of the private sector.”
He noted that the idea was that “Tanzanians will bring land, gold, oil, natural gas, water, wildlife, etc., to the table, as foreign investors bring skills, money and technology at agreed proportions” to ensure a win-win situation.
Charles Shirima, a manager with Tanzania’s Capital Markets and Securities Authority, said the government “fully encourages” foreign investment in agriculture, telecommunications, trade, fisheries, education, healthcare, marine transport, and various other sectors.
Hotels Association of Tanzania CEO Lafhifa Sykes briefed the US delegation on Tanzania’s tourism sector as an investment “destination”, while African Development Centre (Minnesota) Executive Director Nassibu Sereva said that his institution has created “tremendous investment opportunities in the US.”
He said some members of the African Diaspora from Liberia, Somalia and Ethiopia were already benefiting from the initiative, and advised Tanzanian entrepreneurs “to move in too as vigorously”.
The other business executives at the dinner, among them Felix Mosha of East African Integration, Benedict Kazora of the Eastern Africa Diaspora Business Council, Duma Maendeleo Ltd CEO Ray Menard and k-Finance Ltd CEO Devota Minzi, also concurred that Tanzania is an ideal investment destination with countless investment opportunities people could cash in on.
SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN
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