Zanzibar, one of the most exotic tourist destinations in East Africa marked 100 days since its newly elected President Hussein Ali Mwinyi assumed positions of power.
The archipelago which is the autonomous region of Tanzania has been developing its efforts to enhance economic performance in the island over the past years. According to information from The Citizen, the 100 days old presidency is yet focused on transforming the country economy.
The presidency came to helms of power after the Zanzibar Vision 2020-2050 emerged to revitalize the archipelago economy particularly tapping into the sustainable utilization of the Indian ocean resources.
President Mwinyi told The Citizen that, the country has short- and long-term plans slated to ensure there are a success, accountability and quick decision making, which are key issues to a prompt acquisition of reforms in the island’s economy.
The economy of Zanzibar is rather dominated by agricultural, whereby most of the commodities produced are cloves, coconuts, cacao, cassava, sweet potatoes, rice, corn, and citrus fruit.
Hence, developing agriculture, fisheries, tourism, oil and gas sectors is of paramount importance to the island. More importantly, tourism is centre by the presidency, as its plans to extend the heritage tourism, meetings and sports.
READ:Central Bank depicts Zanzibar’s economic slowdown
According to BoT quarter ending December 2020 report, the number of tourist arrivals declined by 44.4 per cent to 89,879 from 161,532 registered in the similar quarter in 2019, with the decline occasioned by challenges related to the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic.
Further, the fisheries sector is still seen to be extremely profitable, as he argued that the sector will be supervised accordingly and everyone prioritizes the interests of citizens. The fishing sector contributed 0.3 per cent to the real GDP in the third quarter of 2020.
Before President Mwinyi assuming power, the Zanzibar economy grew by 3.3 per cent during the quarter ending September 2020, compared to a growth rate of 5.2 per cent in the corresponding quarter in 2019.
“The economy is projected to rebound in the outer period, as the global economy normalizes and the recent fast rolling out of growth-enhancing measures, which include diversification of the economy and improving the business environment, will provide impetus to growth,” Bank of Tanzania quarterly economic bulletin report argued.
However, the presidency eyes to enhance the labour market for the young population and enhance the education and health sectors in general.
According to the Zanzibar’s Formal Sector Employment and Earnings Survey 2018/2019, the total formal employment is around 62,804. Thus, President Mwinyi said his government will provide three kinds of employment: manufacturing, self-employment and public sector.
However, the central bank of Tanzania, insisted that, under the implementation of development blueprints, which include diversification of the economy and improving the business environment, is expected to provide impetus to growth.
