Author: Padili Mikomangwa

The central bank of Tanzania (BoT) released the monthly economic review report on Wednesday, August 2021. The report brought various in-depth details on the performance of the life-pumping sectors of the economy in Tanzania, including exports, imports, and money supply.

Inflation

Tanzania has managed to sustain the inflation to a considerate level over the past month; hence in the recent report, the East African country has continued to keep the inflation on a low level and within the benchmarks set forth at national and regional levels.

The report argued that this is attributed to sufficient domestic food supply, stable exchange rate, and prudent fiscal and monetary policies.

“Twelve-month headline inflation increased to 3.6 per cent from 3.2 per cent recorded in the corresponding period in 2020 and 3.3 per cent recorded in May 2021. The increase was mainly attributed to an increase in prices of non-food items”, the Bank of …

The programme has so far managed to bring on board at least eight companies, such as Selcom Paytech Limited, Techno Image Ltd, AKM Glitters Company, financial institutions such as FINCA Microfinance, Victoria Finance PLC, AML Finance and Reni International Company Limited.

Endeleza which is also a Swahili literal term for “prolong” has been fitted with an ultimate objective which is qualifying SMEs with access to potential private capital from investors and financiers and other actors across the line such as angel investors, venture capital funds, private equity funds, banks and other financial institutions.…

As the two countries keep pressing different economic plans, the visit ushers in crucial business opportunities as the business community listed seven priorities, they “would focus on in bilateral talks between Tanzania and Rwanda that could boost the intra-trade between the two” according to information from The Citizen.

The key issues to be dealt with from the start from stabilizing economic relations: clearing out the Non-Tariff Barriers (NTBs), and payment of unpaid transactions that Rwandan importers owe clearing and forwarding agents and transporters in Tanzania, according to The Citizen.…

Economies perform better when their fate is secured, in other words—sustainable growth performs better under the crucial reassurance of insurance.  

In this era of cutting-edge technology, insurance is a common necessity to possess, hence—the presence of mitigating losses, gaining financial stability, and promoting trade and commerce operations—as catered to by insurance, are the core building blocks of present-day economic success. 

Taking the youngest continent on the planet—Africa, into account—the simple concept of insurance stands to be an important pillar towards developing reliable development initiatives.  

According to Mckinsey, Africa’s insurance industry is valued at around $68 billion in terms of gross written premiums, standing as the eighth largest in the world. 

Faced with multiple natural hazards, insurance cover shields economies, businesses, and communities at large through supporting resiliency and disaster recovery.  

Several think tanks, including the US-based, Mckinsey Global Institute and Brookings, have marked Africa as one of the fastest-growing insurance …

If the world is unfair was a fact, then this statement would establish the truth without a doubt as, “there are more than twenty-one hundred billionaires across the world who own more than half of the world’s wealth” — Oxfam. 

As the number of billionaires doubles over the last decade, Oxfam argues that the richest one per cent have piled up wealth twice as much as the world population. At this moment in history, inequality has worsened. 

World Economic Forum (WEF) pins socio-economic inequality to be more than unequal distribution of income,  but views it from a large lens, arguing, “it is critical to take into consideration multidimensional factors such as social mobility, gender equality, livelihood infrastructure, technology access, the voice of civil society, privacy, social and environmental protections, progressive tax laws and labour rights when examining how societies perform on reducing inequality and serving public interest.”  

With this reality …

Tanzania, one of the fast-growing economies across the African continent ascended to a low-middle income country status (LMIC) in 2020, amid COVID-19 pandemic shocks.  

The achievements of the East African nation of more than 59 million people have been recognized across the world, with the World Bank (WB) taking note of the country’s success and throwing more than congrats to the table. 

Amid uncertainties brought by the pandemic, threatening the livelihood of communities and the sustenance of investments, the central bank of Tanzania forecast the economy to grow by 5.7 per cent in 2021, fueled by public investment and normalization of global trade and investment. 

Under the new administration guided by the sixth president, Samia Suluhu Hassan, Tanzania has already set its priorities and highlighted some of the key investment deals on the table, including the $3.5 billion East Africa Crude Oil Pipeline (EACOP) and the Tanzania-Kenya $1 billion gas …

The government amended the Electronic and Postal Communication Act (CAP) last month by imposing a levy of between US$0.0043 (10Tsh) and US$4 on mobile money transactions, depending on the amount sent and withdrawn.

One of the key factors that led to the expansion of mobile money in Africa and Tanzania, in this case, was the increased interoperability, product expansion—which brought financial inclusion to enable nearly everyone with decent income-earning schedules to own a mobile wallet account.…

The Central Bank of Tanzania (BOT) published the monthly economic review on June 2, 2021, highlighting key economic performance in the country’s different sectors.

Tanzania’s key economic sectors such as exports and imports showed modest performance while inflation remained in tolerable benchmarks.

The East African nation is one of the fastest-growing economies in Africa and it has been on a trajectory to enhance its economy, including advancing to a lower mid-income level, amid uncertainties caused by the global pandemic.

Read: Report Insight: Central bank shows good prospects on Tanzania economy

Various forecasts by different entities including the World Bank (WB) project that Tanzania’s GDP will grow by 4.5 per cent in 2021. However, the global recovery period dictates the fate of its economy.

Inflation

According to the report, headline inflation continues to be within the country and regional benchmarks in May 2021.

“Twelve-month headline inflation remained at 3.3 per cent …

Africa is great and can be greater if its potential is harnessed strategically. This comes in many forms including placing enough recipes for Africa’s youngest working-age population to exploit different sectors of the economy. 

Numbers paint a rather interesting picture.  Between the year 2015 and 2035, the region’s working-age population will grow by approximately 450 million people, which is about 3 per cent per annum. 

Meanwhile, the African Development Bank (AfDB) one of Africa’s vibrant development financiers noted that “youth are Africa’s greatest asset” and could support increased productivity and stronger, more inclusive economic growth across the continent.  

Meanwhile, the International Labor Organization (ILO) pointed out clearly that unemployment rates have remained acute; the most unfortunate situation is that in sub-Saharan Africa, out of the 38.1 per cent of the estimated total working poor, 23.5 per cent is made up of young people. 

ILO’s Global Employment Trends for Youth 2020 …

Is China is fueling Africa’s economy? That could be a question with so many angles to explore – such as – is it worth it for Africa to accept humongous loans from the industrial giant amid her journey to prosperity while opening doors for her nations to invest and heavily mark China’s ingenuity across continent-wide African infrastructure?  

China, one of the world’s top economies provides eight types of foreign aid: complete projects, goods and materials, technical cooperation, human resource development cooperation, medical assistance, emergency humanitarian aid, volunteer programs, and debt relief (Brookings). 

The World Bank has been ousted by China as the world’s largest bilateral creditor, making China the largest single country creditor on Planet Earth (The African Report, 2021). 

In a larger context, Africa is now heavily being catered for financially by China. According to a report by The African Report, which cited data from China-Africa Initiative, between the …