Author: Giza Mdoe

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…

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…

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…

You have a debtor, it is time for them to pay, you pick up your mobile phone dial the number and the most annoying automatic response comes on; ‘Sorry, the number you are calling is not available.’  Upset you hang up and redial, same message, now you are really getting mad, you hang up redial and voilà! You are connected. You exchange a barrage of why are you switching off your phone, they reply no, my phone was on, you finally settle on, it must be bad network! (https://vulcanpost.com/)   Sound familiar?  Well here is some good news, finally the telecomm…

The Central Bank of Nigeria has banned all cryptocurrency transactions as of February 5th 2021 citing terrorism concerns. The central bank is of the view that cryptocurrency transactions are been used to fund terror groups. As a result, it has ordered all banks as well as non-bank financial institutions and all other financial institutions that deal in cryptocurrencies or facilitate payment for cryptocurrencies to stop with immediate effect. The development comes after the Central Bank issued a warning back in January cautioning against the use of cryptocurrency. Cryptocurrencies are volatile and risky since unlike in regular banking transactions, these are…

In its fight against Covid-19 Rwanda has opted to have robots replace humans when coming into contact with infected persons. With the support of the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Rwanda is to deploy its second set of three ‘THOR UVC’ robots. What are these avenger bots all about? As its name suggests, the THOR ultra-violet (UVC) uses UVC to disinfect. Using room mapping technology, THOR UVC is able to go around a given cleaning space and disinfect it efficiently. It uses UVC energy to kill germs and pathogens that way, the robots minimize contact of persons with the…