Author: The Exchange

Songas –Tanzania’s leading gas-to-power company announced the appointment of Anael Samuel as the new Managing Director of the company with immediate effect.

The Tanzanian national takes over from Nigel Whittaker who was recently appointed as the company’s board Chairperson.

Under his new role, Anael will lead the company to continue its excellent operational performance and availability and continue to work on its plans to invest over USD65 million (approximately TZS126 billion) to expand its generation capacity at the Songas Ubungo Power Plant from the current 180 MW to 245MW.

Read Also: Tanzania: GE upgrades gas turbines at Songas Ubungo Power Plant

Anael joined Songas in April 2014 as Chief Financial Officer responsible for managing all financial planning, reporting and management of risk for the company. Prior to joining Songas, he held senior roles at Intra Energy Tanzania Limited, Tanga Cement and Unilever. Anael holds an MBA qualification from the University …

The East Africa 15 (EA15) highlights on 15 of the most traded and highly capitalized stocks in the region on a monthly basis. The primary purpose of the EA15 is to give investors a description and perspective of the regional stock markets’ performance.

EAC countries’ economies had a turbulent time in 2019 characterized by rising public debt against missed revenue targets,slow private sector growth and under-par performance of traditional key sectors of the economy such as tourism, agriculture and manufacturing. Further, regional trade which was earmarked as crucial to economic development has been marred by trade spatssuch as protectionism resulting in a decline involume and value of intra-regional trade.

The region is looking to maintain a loose monetary stance to boost private sector growth and more importantly,resolve disputes in order to intensify regional trade. Despite the tough economic environment, the region’s GDP is projected to grow the fastest in sub-Saharan …

The Finance Bill, among other things, proposed an increase in the Value Added Tax (VAT) rate from 5 per cent to 7.5 per cent. The additional revenue from the increase in VAT rate would be used to fund healthcare, education and infrastructure. The Government intends to mitigate the impact of the VAT rate increase by introducing a VAT exemption threshold for businesses with a turnover of less than N25 million per annum, and expanding the list of VAT-exempt items to include the following:

1. Brown and white bread;
2. cereals including maize, rice, wheat, millet, barley and sorghum;
3. fish of all kinds;
4. flour and starch meals;
5. fruits, nuts, pulses and vegetables of various kinds;
6. roots such as yam, cocoyam, sweet and Irish potatoes;
7. meat and poultry products including eggs;
8. milk;
9. salt and herbs of various kinds; and
10. natural water and table water.

The Bill was signed into law by the President, Muhammadu …

THE EXCHANGE sat down with the CEO of Johari Rotana Hotel, Mr. Joerg Potreck to discuss about the hospitality industry in Tanzania and what the future holds for Johari Rotana.

 Briefly tell us about the history of Rotana Hotels?

We are a hotel management company from the United Arab Emirates  founded in 1992 by Nasser Al Nowais and Selim El Zyr. Operating as Rotana, we opened our first property, the Beach Rotana Abu Dhabi in 1993 and today we are one of the leading hotel management company within the Middle East, Africa, Eastern Europe and Turkey with a portfolio of over 100 properties in 26 cities.

Rotana combines a unique understanding of the culture and communities of the Middle East with the collective expertise of an executive team contributing to years of international experience in the service industry.

 What sets apart Johari Rotana from other world class hotels in Tanzania?…

As one of the leading international centers of business, Dubai has positioned itself as a major commercial hub globally. Entrepreneurship stands as a hallmark of distinction, and the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry has been a leading dynamic in enabling business growth, innovation and expansion, not only within Dubai, but worldwide.

Under the leadership of President and CEO H.E. Hamad Buamim, the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry has been instrumental in expanding relations between the world and Dubai, and this year in November 2019, it will host the upcoming Global Business Forum Africa (GBF Africa).

With more than 17,000 African companies already registered as members of the Dubai Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the upcoming GBF Africa, under the theme of “Scale-up Africa”, seeks to play a critical role in bridging greater business ties between Dubai and Africa. With economic development poised to grow exponentially in the continent …

Dar es Salaam based GSM group of companies, is set to launch its biggest furniture store dubbed ‘GSM HOME’, aimed at addressing the existing gaps in the market in supply of wide range of good quality furnitures.

Occupying about 1,200 square feet space, the new store is located along Mwai Kibaki road in Mikocheni B area and is expected to cater for growing needs of office and home furniture in the country.

Speaking at the company headquarters in Dar es Salaam, GSM group of Companies Chief Commercial Officer Mr. Allan Chonjo said, the plan to unveil the new store has been the company’s long-time dream that will now come true.

“We are very excited that soon we will launch this great store in Dar es Salaam. In addition to offering customers a convenient shopping experience, GSM HOME will have a number of contemporary furniture including shelving, sofas, sideboards, coffee tables, …

9^thGlobal Islamic Microfinance Forum (GIMF) will convene in Lahore – Pakistan on 11^th – 13^th December, 2019 under the theme of “Evidence of Impact and Financial Inclusion” to explore and discuss innovative financial inclusion strategies that can create clear pathways to poverty alleviation. This Apex event is organized by AlHuda CIBE in Association with Akhuwat and Sponsored by Islamic Corporation for the Development of the Private Sector- ICD. ICD is one of the premier Islamic multilateral financial institution for the development of the private sector.

More than 20 countries will be participating in this prestigious event and around 25 international speakers will be addressing in the event. Majority of the speaker are industry leaders and experts. AlHuda is striving for poverty alleviation through Islamic microfinance by providing advisory, consultancy, research and capacity building services and organized 8 annual events in different countries of the world. This …

Tanzania’s leading digital lifestyle company, Tigo Tanzania, has today introduced the first most affordable 4G phone with the aim to provide 4G internet for everyone in Tanzania. The 4G enabled smart feature phone dubbed “Kitochi 4G Smart”will retail at $21 and comes with applications such as Facebook, WhatsApp, Twitter and YouTube.

Speaking during the launch, Tigo Tanzania’s Chief Commercial Officer, Tarik Boudiaf, said, “As the pioneers with the biggest 4G network in Tanzania since 2014 we are breaking yet another barrier to enable and avail everyone with the most affordable 4G phone to be part of our fast-growing digital family. We are proud of continuing advancing digital inclusion agenda in the country”

Boudiaf further added that the price of the 4G enabled devices has been a hindrance for most Tanzanians to enjoy the benefits of 4G internet. With the introduction of “Kitochi 4G Smart” in the market …

Plans to construct the first state-of-the-art Kigali Central Sewerage System plant by 2022, could leave investors in Rwanda will a less burden of a requirement to construct individual sewerage systems underneath structures.

Construction of all commercial housing projects in Kigali city have been required to build their own septic tanks or mini waste treatment plants which is costly in construction and daily maintenance with the latter requiring foreign expertise.

“With the new central system we may not require investors to build their own systems, because the current network will be connected to the central system. This option is possible and will be deliberated after the plant is complete,” Parfait Busabizwa, the Kigali city Vice Mayor in charge of economic development said.

Kigali’s first wastewater network and treatment plant is expected to improve city hygiene especially during the rainy days, reduce air pollution as well as make Kigali an even better …

The Doing Business 2020 study shows that developing economies are catching up with developed economies in the ease of doing business.

Still, the gap remains wide. An entrepreneur in a low-income economy typically spends around 50 per cent of the country’s per-capita income to launch a company, compared with just 4.2 per cent for an entrepreneur in a high- income economy. It takes nearly six times as long on average to start a business in the economies ranked in the bottom 50 as in the top 20.

There’s ample room for developing economies to catch up with developed countries on most of the Doing Business indicators. Performance in the area of legal rights, for example, remains weakest among low- and middle-income economies.

Doing Business recognizes the important work countries have done to improve their regulatory environments. Among the 10 economies that advanced the most, efforts were focused on the areas …