Author: Giza Mdoe

When one of the World’s richest couples decides to divorce then yes we are all warrant to Tweet our P and Qs. So, as the social media world continues to dot the couples’ i’s and cross their t’s let as look at ‘the poor man’ in one of the World’s wealthiest people.

As of February this year, Bill Gates’ net worth of over $137 billion, keeping the world renown philanthropist right up their with the rest of the World’s richest people.

But that is not what makes Bill Gates standout, it is his willingness to aide the world’s poorest that sets him apart from the other World titans.

Only recently, through the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Bill Gates, has set aside a $306 million package in agricultural development grants for Africa and other parts of the developing World.

Over the years, Bill Gates has invariably donated and granted Africa …

It is early January, the World is still celebrating the new year , so is Somalia, the Horn of Africa. Two F-35B, single pilot airstrike jets strike at al-Shabaab operatives killing three members of the terrorist group, reported the U.S. Africa Command, AFRICOM.

An African Defense Post Abroad

The United States Africa Command (AFRICOM), is a joint military command body of the US for African military response against mainly terror threats.

However, AFRICOM is nowhere near Africa, on the contrary, it is across the seven seas in Europe, headquartered at Kelley Barracks, Stuttgart, Germany. Now Africa wants the command post brought closer to the continent, after all it was formed to address terror threats on the continent was it not?

During its formation in 2007, the White House announced that AFRICOM “will strengthen our security cooperation with Africa and create new opportunities to bolster the capabilities of our partners in …

The number of small-scale miners in mineral-rich Tanzania has more than doubled in a period of less than a year. Mining is the country’s leading revenue earner in terms of foreign export as well as increased government revenue.

The figures were made public by Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa while addressing parliament. He said in the financial year 2020/2021 4,652 mining exploration licenses were issued to small and medium sized miners.

Notably Tanzania is the only country in the world with deposits of the precious stone tanzanite; Tanzania is also one of Africa’s largest gold producers.…

That’s right—it is not on mere goodwill that the magnanimous sums are dished out; it is a two-way street. We give you this amount if you do this for us. This give and take barter in economics is known as conditionality.

To put it in the words of Kjell J. Havenevik, author of ‘The IMF and the World Bank in Africa (Conditionality, Impact and Alternatives), ‘Conditionality is the term given to the conditions relating to macro-policy elements which countries have to meet in order to get access to international loans and/or aid.’

We in the journalism science get information about the big sums ‘handed’ to African countries; what we usually do not get through the all-too-frequent press releases is the conditionality that comes with that money.…

Barely a month after the tragic and unexpected death of Tanzania’s outspoken and visionary leader Dr. John Magufuli, the country has gone ahead and inked an oil pact with neighbouring Uganda.

The move puts a lid on speculations of how the country’s first woman President Mama Samia Suluhu Hassan will handle duties of the top office. The new president, who was former vice president under the Magufuli regime, sat with her Ugandan counterpart Yoweri Museveni and together shook hands for French Total E&P and China’s CNOOC and signed key agreements for the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP).…

Contribution of game meat to total world meat production and consumption is apparently very small, according to reports the world Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO).

In an article titled ‘The new international market for game meat’ FAO cites that records of game meat trade and consumption are even less documented in the international meat trade platforms. “Accurate statistical information is grossly lacking. In many countries even statistical data on conventional meats produced by agriculture leave much to be desired, so the situation can only be worse in the field of game meat,” reads the report in part.

With only developed countries like the United States and some countries in central and northern Europe being recognized for keeping track of game meat, Tanzania has taken an unprecedented step in legalizing the trade of game meat, and keeping of accurate data of the trade.

The development comes under President John Magufuli’s …

Enjoying some of the world’s highest annual economic growth rates, and by the measure of the amount of infrastructures works, the East African Community (EAC) is one of the world’s fastest-growing regional trade blocs. 

East Africa is undertaking some of the world’s grandest infrastructure works yet, ranging from fast-speed electric train railways and single cable bridges to imposing dams and oil and gas pipelines as well as multinational road networks.

It is just as well because trade on the continent is growing exponentially and is bound to grow even faster with the signing of the continent-wide free trade pact.  …

Tourism was Tanzania’s leading source of forex—this according to data from the Ministry of Natural Resources and Tourism—but that was only true before the global Covid-19 pandemic hit.

Statistics from the ministry show that the country earned an impressive USD2.5B from the tourism sector in 2019. That was the highest it would rake in before Covid-19 befell the world in 2020.  To date, the future looks grim.

The effect of the global pandemic on Tanzania’s economy in general has been devastating. Consider the fact that earnings from the travel subsector have plummeted by more than half its pre-pandemic earnings. …

Tanzania wants to increase export of tobacco.  In its most recent export expansion plans, the government announced it is eyeing markets in traditionally large consumers of tobacco products such as the Middle East, Northern Africa and Eastern Asian markets. 

Tobacco and tobacco products are one of the big forex earners for Tanzania raking in an annual return of USD265m on average. Tanzania is the ninth largest tobacco producer in the world. However, tobacco production has been largely affected by ‘world market buyers who control the price and volume of tobacco that enters the market.’ 

In this regard, Tanzania’s Deputy Minister for Agriculture Hussein Bashe noted that global demand for tobacco has declined by five per cent. However, he remained confident that despite global decline in demand, Tanzania, according to him, expects to increase production to 67,000 metric tonnes in 2020/21 from 42,000 metric tonnes in 2019/20.  He …

Innovation is ferrying Africa to a brighter more successful future, a future of technology and digital realities in everyday life. From mobile Apps that allow John in the city centre to Dr. Atish Shah’s affordable battery-powered prosthetic arm that even the least fortunate can afford, innovation is defining Africa’s reality.

African Innovation: Tanzanian Doctor creates mobile-battery powered prosthetics

Tanzania’s Dr. Atish Shah has been recognized the World over for his innovation the Mkono-1, a 3D-printed functional prosthetic hand. Dr. Shah a biomedical engineering Masters candidate says the design was made with the average Tanzanian in mind. It is affordable and functional giving amputees an inexpensive solution for improved mobility and independence.

The prosthetic hand is charged by a simple mobile phone battery, bringing a revolution to an otherwise very expensive industry. In Tanzania, prosthetics are unaffordable for those in middle and low-income communities, and no other battery-powered prosthetics are …