Author: Giza Mdoe

For the year 2020, Ethiopia is gearing up to open its first Stock Exchange market in over 45 years. With it, Africa will add one more stock exchange floor under its belt bringing the total number of working bourse on the continent to 30. Almost half a century ago, back in the 70s, there was vibrant share trading at the National Bank of Ethiopia. That was in fact, one of the first, if not the very first, trading floor on the continent. Well, at least one that was not under colonial rule that is. Now, some 45 years later after…

Tanzania has set regional precedence by establishing an atomic energy commission and gone ahead to start construction of a state-of-the-art laboratory designed to manage use of radioactive materials. In Sub-Sahara Africa, the country is only second to South Africa in this frontier and has already begun the first phase of construction works. Valued at TShs2.5bn (US$1.1mn) the first phase of the lab construction began last year and is designed to meet global operation and calibration standards in atomic and nuclear energy. It may come as a surprise to you as it did to me to learn of this rather unsettling…

Trade among East African Community (EAC) member has suffered a catastrophic blow losing USD380 million in the span of just a single week. There is not an economy that has not taken a hit from the coronavirus pandemic and the EAC trade bloc is no exception. While no official order has been issued to close their borders, each of the EAC member countries has limited all manner of movement, goods included. Trucks are still going through to deliver goods but as Tanzania and Burundi agreed last week, the truck drivers would stay quarantined for 14 days. While for Kenya on…

The construction industry in Tanzania contributed an average of 13.6% to Tanzania’s GDP over the last two years representing a whopping USD6billion. The government of Tanzania has dedicated more than a quarter (25.4%) of its annual national budget to infrastructure development projects. With such high stakes, the construction sector now offers new investment and employment opportunities for Tanzanian youth. Meet Michael Kimei, the 33 year old young entrepreneur and born again Christian. Mr. Kimei is Owner and Manager of Aggregate Crushing Ltd, a construction company in Tanzania, the epitome of youth self employment. “I have had passion for business ever since I was a child, and…

After three decades of austerity measures on Somalia, the otherwise economically embattled East African nation is now, 30 years later, in good standing with the World Bank. Well, before we start tipping our hats, let’s put ‘good standing’ in perspective, Somalia is now in good enough standing to receive grants but it is yet to get to economic stability that would warrant it WB loans. To put it in the words of the World Bank, the international lender is now ready to ‘normalize relations’ with Somalia. The bank credited turning the new leaf with Somalia on its reasonably strong record…

Micro financing is the go to solution for small businesses as banks tighten lending conditions to stifle Non Performing Loans (NPLs). In Tanzania, as elsewhere, NPLs are no longer a problem for individual banks, rather a national economic problem managed by the Central Bank. The Bank of Tanzania (BoT) now provides guidelines for banks to curb NPLs and to help, it has created what is referred to as Credit Reference Bureaus. These bureaus are meant to protect banks against bad credit or more directly, to protect them against bad debtors. In Tanzania, there are now two credit reference bureaus both…

There is need for Tanzania to involve the private sector to help it fight against illegal fishing if the country is to curb the devastating economic sabotage. The country is now grappling with illegal fishing, but with the ever depleting amount fish in Lake Victoria and other inland water masses as well, it seems to be a losing battle this far. The already trouble sector, contributing an average of 2.2 per cent to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is taking more hits from illegal fishing. (https://mrghealth.com/) So bad is the crisis that last month, while addressing the nation from the…

Fair trade is a fairy tale that belongs in a children’s fiction book. Just think—a fair playing ground is what every mom and pop shop has been crying for, for years. Yet every waking day, their tears fall on deaf ears, they seem to constantly draw the short end of the stick while the competition always gets the better deal. To unravel this unfair ‘fair trade’ mystery, you have to first understand who or what the competition is. What makes the playing ground so uneven and how do you tip things in favour of small business? Did you catch that?…

Tanzania is well on its way to achieving its long coveted middle income status, and the mushrooming skyscrapers in most all its major cities are evidence. Well that’s one way to look at it. You see, where investment is on the raise, it is safe to say the economy is stable and even growing. That is Tanzania for you, a stable growing economy where investment, especially in the real estate sector is growing, and growing exponentially. Tanzania has been enjoying a steady economic growth over the last few years averaging an impressive 7% annually. However, for the sake of this…

The European Union is one of Uganda’s major trading partners with annual trade balance books exceeding USD 1 billion every year. However, more and more free trade pacts are been signed across Africa, opening ever more doors to new markets right within the country and this may upset the traditional foreign trade reliance. For, now, international trade remains business as usual, why only last month, the EU announced that it is extending Uganda some USD97.5 million as grant financing to fund development projects in this financial year. This latest grant pact further strengthens bilateral relations between the two even as…