Author: Giza Mdoe

The Tanzania Horticultural Association (Taha) is reporting an increase in revenue from the export of avocados which until now were not considered key export cash crop.  However growing demand in the US and Europe has seen the sub-sector increase revenue to US$23 million annually.  Tanzania is the second largest producer of avocado fruit in Africa second only to Kenya. Over the past five years, avocado exports have leap-frogged from 1,877 tonnes in 2014 to 9,000 tonnes in 2019 and were it not for the COVID-19 outbreak, this figure was expected to go higher.  Also Read: COVID-19 response must target African agriculture and the rural poor Kenya…

There is no sugar in Tanzania. The little that there is, is very hard to come by and when you do find it, its many times more expensive than you would have bought it last month. It is barely a fortnight since the government confidently said the country has enough sugar and went ahead and placed a cap on sugar prices. To bring things under control, nationwide crackdowns were carried out and several warehouses were found with allegedly hoarded sugar, fines were issued and arrest made in shops and other outlets where the sellers were price above the government cap,…

Did you know, last year (2019) Africa spent more money servicing debts than the amount it spent on health issues of its public? This obviously a general statement, it does not mean that each and every country in Africa spent more on debt servicing that the money it allocated to its health center, but the fact holds true for most of Africa’s 53 countries. It is not that Africa does not care about the health of its people, on the contrary, its just that, according to World Bank stats, Africa is home to the World’s highest number of heavily indebted poor…

Phase one of Tanzania’s Stand Gauge Railway (SGR) that extends from Dar es Salaam to Morogoro is almost complete. The railway which covers over 300 kilometres is almost complete and the country is now getting ready to buy the trains that will run on the track. Even though its first phase is not entirely complete due to the ongoing heavy rains that have stalled construction work, the country is ready to move on and buy and test the trains. Unofficial reports say the government of Tanzania has started bidding for trains and is actually in the process of finalising procurement…

The Tanzania Horticultural Association (Taha), is reporting an increase in revenue from the export of avocados which until now were not considered key export cash crop. However growing demand in the US and Europe has seen the sub-sector increase revenue to USD 23 million annually. Tanzania is the second largest producer of avocado fruit in Africa second only to Kenya. Over the past 5 years, avocado exports have frog leaped from 1,877 tonnes in 2014 to 9,000 tonnes in 2019 and were it not for the COVID-19 outbreak, this figure was expected to go only higher. Kenya is already doing…

China has been funding a lot of Africa’s development especially in the past two decades and in that time, Beijing has loaned to Africa a whopping USD160 billion. This debt burden is here to stay, and to stay for a long time, that is unless China is willing to forego or at least ease the terms of the loans.  To put it in the words of the US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo; “It is something that the African countries should consider, too, in asking China to possibly enter debt relief on some deals that have incredibly onerous terms that…

The Impact of COVID-19 on agriculture value chains especially transportation logistics is immense. Economies must adopt, industries and sectors must find their own solutions to the bottlenecks in the agri-food supply chain. Now that it is no longer business as usual, what makes up for robust food supply chains when borders are shut down? Will air travel cut prizes and yet break even in cross border food supply routes? What technological advances must we embrace in food production to bridge the growing supply gap? How can digital systems help speed up logistics integration in the transportation sector? These are the…

No continent suffers worse food security issues than Africa, yet despite the high productivity coupled with disease and drought resistant capabilities of genetic modified organisms (GMOs), Africa has long been resistant to genetically modified food, be they crop or animal embryos. While the average beef cattle in Africa, say the local Zebu weighs an average weight of a mere 250kg market weight, hybrid beef cattle like the Aryshire, weighs an average of 400kg, almost double the local African breed. Instead of settling for 1 to 3 litres of milk per day from your local Zebu, you could get in excess…

While all other agricultural exports are suffering reduced demand owing to the Covid-19 global pandemic, that is not the case for tobacco which has recorded remarkable increase in sales at the beginning of the marketing season. Reports from Zimbabwe say export of flue-cured tobacco is stable and prices are firm, with tobacco sales having increased more than quadrupled over the cause of the last and the present season. Last season closed with sales of USD232 008 but this season has opened with sales of USD1 598 230 that is a 588 percent increase! As market season opened at the start…

Total Uganda has bought out the financial struggling Tullow Oil for a whopping USD575 million as the latter gears up to leave the East African market. The buyout will be paid in part by a USD 500 million initial payment payable upon completion and another USD75 million payable when the project pact is finalized. With completion of the sell, Total Uganda will now own Tullow’s assets on the humongous Lake Albert Development project and the even larger East African Crude Oil Pipeline project. Tullow, a British owned conglomerate has been struggling and the just inked Uganda buy out will help…