Author: Giza Mdoe

Trade between China and Tanzania grew by 23.7% year-on-year, reaching US$8.31 billion in 2022 China pledges increased cooperation under its Global Development Initiative As of 2022, trade volume between China and Africa reached US$282 billion dollars, an 11.1% year-on-year growth. China-Tanzania relations can be measured in growing trade portfolios and can be seen in Chinese President Xi Jinping’s choice to make Tanzania the first African country to visit when he came into power in 2013. Not only was Tanzania President Xi’s first African country to visit but his first overseas trip since assuming the presidency. In his speech 10 years…

The future of agriculture is digital not the hand-hoe The more efficient a farm is, the more productive it becomes without necessarily increasing land size. AfDB awards US$140,000 in grants to AgriPitch competition winners Agriculture development for food security and poverty reduction cannot be realized without the adaptation of digital solutions. Digital solutions offer more effective traceability, compliance and farm management systems which make the commercial, large or small, much more effective. In these modern times of food scarcity in the face of ever-increasing demand, efficiency is the name of the game. The more efficient a farm is, the more…

Microbe animal feed supplement doubles milk production in 24hrs Bacterial solution solves aflatoxin problem in animal feed Tanzania dairy industry to benefit from Kenyan feed supplement Kenyan dairy farming scientists have developed a molasses-based animal feed supplement that is capable of doubling milk production in just 24 hours. Using naturally occurring microbes, scientists have figured a way to ‘pre-ferment’ or ‘pre-digest’ animal feed which in turn allows for the cow’s body to easily and quickly absorb nutrients and in turn produce more milk much faster. Cows, like most other ruminant herbivores, do not have the time to properly chew their…

Lithium battery industry to grow over 30 percent annually from 2022 to 2030 Market value for lithium batteries to exceed US$400 billion by 2030 DRC, Zambia and Tanzania looking to refine cobalt, manufacture lithium batteries The sale of Electric Vehicles (EVs) is booming in the transport industry of the developed world, and now Africa wants in. Rather than continue to supply raw materials for the making of the electric vehicle, countries like DRC, Zambia, and Tanzania, want to refine the ores and even manufacture the final product, lithium batteries. Their ambitions are well placed because the lithium battery industry is…

Saudia Airlines launches direct flights to/from Tanzania Saudia Airlines direct flights to Tanzania less than 5 hours According to the Tanzania Civil Aviation Authority, the number of international travellers to Tanzania increased by 55 percent in 2022 Saudia Airlines on Sunday 26th March made its maiden flight to Julius Nyerere International Airport (JNIA) in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, cutting travel time and reducing travel costs to the Kingdom by more than half. This inaugural flight by the Saudi Arabian carrier marked the start of direct flights to and from Jeddah to Dar es Salaam four times a week. With the…

The prospect of establishing a common currency will be a top agenda at the upcoming BRICS Summit in Durban, South Africa later this year. The Shanghai Cooperation Organization (SCO) is working towards trading in their own national currencies. Roughly 40 percent of international trade transactions in goods are invoiced in dollars The prospect of establishing a common currency will be a top agenda at the upcoming BRICS Summit in Durban, South Africa later this year. Should the common currency be formed, it will be based on a basket of the currencies of the BRICS countries; the Chinese RMB Yuan, the…

Zanzibar President Mwinyi signs Zanzibar Sustainable Tourism Declaration Greener Zanzibar Tourism Strategy to boost island’s blue economy World Bank urges Zanzibar to increase local content in tourism Zanzibar President Dr. Hussein A. Mwinyi has pledged to ensure a greener and more sustainable approach to tourism in Zanzibar following the signing of the Zanzibar Sustainable Tourism Declaration. The declaration recognizes and commits Zanzibar to uphold global sustainable tourism standards as adopted by international institutions and world leaders. As part of the island’s Greener Zanzibar Tourism Strategy, the declaration sets Zanzibar on a path to embed sustainable strategies as part of its…

US Vice President Kamala Harris pledges increased US trade with Tanzania This visit by VP Harris is expected to encourage US investment in Tanzania through trade, which already the office of the Vice President has pledged to do. US Lifezone Metals to set up second cobalt, nickel refinery plant in Tanzania The trip to Tanzania by US Vice President Kamala Harris is already bearing fruit with the US announcing plans to increase trade with the country. Air Force 2 landed in Tanzania late Wednesday where the US second in command was received in a colourful ceremony at the Julius Nyerere…

AfDB announces US$ 1.5 billion funding for emergency food responce AfDB pledges seeds & fertilizers for 20 million smallholder farmers Oxfam warns of famine in Somalia In May 2022, the African Development Bank (AfDB) Board of Directors approved $1.5 billion in funding for what the bank called the African Emergency Food Production Facility; one year down the road, has the funding achieved its purpose? AfDB President Akinwumi Adesina described the facility as a necessary support for Africa’s emergency food response in the face of shortages caused by the Russia-Ukraine war. The bank’s President said the funding will help to significantly…

As a signatory to the ICC, South Africa is under a legal obligation to heed the warrant and arrest the leader of Russia.   The European Union, as well as the United States, have all sent diplomatic envoys to South Africa urging the administration in Pretoria to broker some kind of peace talks. South Africa’s Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Naledi Pandor raised the issue of double standards in the ICC.  South Africa has extended an invitation to Russia’s President Vladimir Putin to attend the BRICS Summit later this year in South Africa amidst an arrest warrant issued by the…