By Joseph Kilasara

Tanzania has come of age with the onset of the fourth phase government as we like to call it. The third phase government of Mr Mkapa has made tremendous achievements in addressing the macroeconomics fundamentals of the economy with the exception of unemployment which remains astronomically high.

At the start of Mkapa’s government in 1995, the economy was in a dire state with inflation hovering around 29% and growing; the currency was depreciating daily; foreign donors had deserted the country; tax evasion and corruption, both high level and petty, was seen as a norm; and, as the government was not collecting revenue, salaries were extremely meagre and frequently delayed. For some time the economic and business environment was all but chaotic and the government had lost its credibility and was becoming more of a joke. Continue reading →

In an effort to boost the capacity of local microfinance institutions the Governor of the Central Bank of Tanzania, David Balali, has launched the ‘The Financial Sector Deepening Trust (FSDT)’. The objectives of the fund are to support any organization that contributes to realizing the objectives of the government’s ‘Poverty Reduction Strategy Plan (PRSP).’ The Trust’s investments will include research and development of financial markets, products and services, training, capacity building, strengthening smaller financial institutions as well as developing regulatory and supervisory frameworks – The Guardian.

The Guardian has also reported some good news for coffee farmers in Kilimanjaro thanks to the introduction of the Tanzania Kilimanjaro brand initiated by a company called Peet’s Coffee & Tea. The coffee is being marketed as a single origin coffee in the US as the result of a project funded by USAID, the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs, Farm Africa and other private donors.

Creditors have been closing in on the once high-flying flag of the road transport sector – The Scandinavian Express Services Limited – which operates throughout East Africa with its luxury buses. The liquidation bid has been filed in the High Court by Shell Tanzania seeking to recover about Tzs 1.5bn in unpaid oil supplies. This petition was immediately followed by those of several major local banks leaving the future of the company in a gloomy state. Nevertheless, this could in a way be a blessing in disguise to the credit market in general as it will instill a much needed debt-repayment culture.