A survey by Stanbic Bank shows Kenyan businesses registered a drop in activity in May…

Tanzania’s coal mining landscape is featured with attractive investments. In September 2011, a Chinese company, Sichuan Hongda Co. ltd, signed a $3 billion deal with Tanzania to mine coal through the Mchuchuma Coal mine and iron ore, yet another big win for the sector (Global Energy Monitor – GEM).

The current agreement comes to supplement the existing efforts the government of Tanzania and other private actors made to enhance coal mining.

In January 2021, it was reported that Tanzania China International Mineral Resource Ltd. (TCIMRL) requested tax incentives on import duty on goods to be imported for the construction work, incentives on spare parts and machinery, and relief on fuel.

The National Association of School Governing Bodies’ general secretary, Matakanye Matakanye, told SowetanLIVE during an interview that many teachers were unemployed and the government should prioritize them over foreign teachers.

Matakanye also accused the government of failing to create a strong local capacity for specialist teachers.

“There are lots and lots of university graduates who are not working and we don’t get the department’s logic of taking people from outside our country when our people are not working. If this was happening five or 10 years after democracy, it would be understandable. It is unacceptable that the department of basic education is still getting educators from Cuba and Zimbabwe after 26 years of democracy,” he said.

Meanwhile, according to the Rwanda Education Board (REB), Rwanda is set to receive close to 500 Zimbabwean teachers by September this year. The teachers will be placed in polytechnics and higher learning institutions.

Most roads have either poor bike lanes or no lanes at all. And these are not roads made in the 1990s, no, these are roads being made today. With most industrialized western countries doing away with their overreliance on motorized transport for cycling, a far greener alternative, African countries are yet again slow to catch on.   

Secure, well-demarcated bikeways are key to better quality of city life, less vehicular wear and tear on roads and a healthy populace. All these make money sense if you contrast the wage bill on maintaining the roads, combating climate change effects and relieving the overburdened healthcare system.

But more importantly is the creation of an environment where delivery gig work thrives and steps up to be a big earner for young people, who majorly fall under the “untaxable” domain due to lack of gainful employment. 

Currently, there are cycle lanes only on a few major roads like Jogoo road, Outering road, and Ngong road. There was a bike lane along Mombasa road but the Nairobi Expressway has erected pillars on it making it unusable. Nonetheless, these lanes face a plethora of issues from being derelict and littered with all manner of trash including broken bottles.  

Over the past years, Ethiopia has become one of the primary beneficiaries of the EU Trust Fund for Africa.

According to information from European Commission, in total, the value of EU development assistance to Ethiopia has averaged an estimated 214 Euro ($225 million) per year. 

However, when Ethiopia was dragged down through the most gruesome internal political turmoil – the Tigray War – relations between the Horn of Africa and the EU was at an all-time low.  

The EU followed close on the heels of Ethiopia’s close development partner, the United States, and threatened sanctions on the Ethiopian government in a deliberate attempt to quench the conflict.  

Energy producers argue that Tanzania’s LNG international markets could be worth around 44.3 billion (based on 2021 markets), thus proving how the sector benefits all parties involved in the investment. 

The EACOP pipeline is another success story that Tanzania wears as a badge of honour. It managed to win Uganda over and sweep off Kenya from the deal, as Tanzania’s land laws and policies favoured the project timeline. According to information from the EACOP official website, the oil project will transform oil and gas investment in both countries while increasing their FDI by over 60 per cent during the construction phase alone. 

Mining is another extractive sub-sector that yields profits for both Tanzania and investors. After facing a series of international legal complications, Tanzania’s new mining landscape is open for business.

Big global miner such as Barrick Gold has solidified investment in Tanzania mines which produce valuable diamond and gold minerals. According to the Bank of Tanzania, gold generated $2.7 billion in exports in 2021.