Browsing: investment

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 of fiscal and political reforms over the last few years.

As World Bank’s Country Manager for Somalia, Mr. Hugh Riddell was quoted mid this month, good relations means that “…going forward, Somalia will be able to access grants to finance poverty reduction.”

In his media brief, the WB country executive …

Trade between Tanzania and China has been adversely affected by the ongoing global coronavirus pandemic.

The turn for the worst between Sino-Tanzanian trade is only to be expected as movement of both goods and people is restricted the world over.

In a press release that was issued recently by the respective authorities, Tanzania’s Minister of Industries and Trade, Mr Innocent Bashungwa, told local press that trade volumes to and from the two countries has taken a significant blow.

Cargo flow between the two countries is now limited if not completely stopped and the picture is grim across the region. While it is estimated to cost both parties huge sums of money, neither the Tanzanian authorities nor the counterparts from the Chinese embassy have released any specific figures.

The closed borders owing to the coronavirus outbreak, is the direct cause of the dropped trade between the two nations. Until the outbreak, …

There is need to regulate the wage amount paid to labourers in Tanzania particularly in the construction industry  if the country is to reduce poverty levels and increase professionalism in the sector.

Last month I hired a Dar es Salaam based wage labourer to do some basic construction work for me. As he worked, we ventured into conversation deliberating the working conditions of wage labourers in the country.

‘Richie’ the only name he was willing to offer me, said his regular day starts before dawn.

“I have to wake up before the sun comes up,” he chuckles but maintains a somber look.

“You know, I live in the slums, so I have to get two buses to get to the site,” he continues after a moment of lamentation.  According to Richie, as a wage labourer, his job is never guaranteed, as he put it; “at the site, …

As the rest of the country shuts down all entry ports, heavily reliant on tourism, the spice Isles of Zanzibar are allowing charter flights to land but with strict conditions.

Isles authorities have permitted charter flights bringing tourists to the island to land but on condition that all persons on board enter a 14 days quarantine stay, at their own expense.

This surprising turn of events happens in the backdrop of ongoing global threat of the spread of coronavirus. Even leading sports leagues have been cancelled and regional high profile meetings are been held on conference calls.

Across Africa, the tourism industry has come to an almost complete shutdown. It is time immemorial since a disease stopped people from touring and going for holidays, at least not since the deadly World War I and II power viruses.

With most all African countries eventually succumbing to the threat and finally closing …

There are now more than 100,000 mini-grid stations across Africa, these little power generation stations are serving to bridge Africa’s rural power gap and Tanzania is no exception.

While the country leads Africa in rural electrification efforts, there is still huge gap between demand and supply and the solution to cover it lays in mini-grids, small power stations that generate power at localized remote points.

To date, Tanzania has well over 100 mini-grids that provide electrical power to over 250,000 people in remote corners of the country. These mini-grids provide close to 200 MW using biomass, fossil fuel and solar systems as well as hybrids of these energy sources.

Tanzania’s national policies also support adoption of renewable energy technologies. Off-grid electrification using renewable energy technologies can offer a power solution to rural and remote areas. These efforts are inline with the global Sustainable Development Goals.

SDG number 7 calls for …

More than ever before, Tanzania and the rest of Africa need to employ rain harvesting technology. Global climate changing is drastically affecting weather patterns, rains are heavier or missing completely, droughts in otherwise tropical areas, cyclones and tornadoes ravaging through coastlines. Weather is now less predictable than ever before.

For both economic and social reasons, Tanzania needs to make the best of the rains when they come, Tanzania needs to harvest rain water.

While at national or even city levels, there are some sophisticated equations involved in rain harvesting, like building reservoirs and purification sites, but all in all, the science of rain harvesting technology is not all that complicated at all. It’s a simple three step investment, collect, store and purify.

Since economies rely on water for production and households depend on clean and safe water for daily survivor, harvesting rain water should not even be optional, it should …

A group of 25 South African business people was in high spirits ahead of their departure to Kampala, Uganda, to explore trade and investment opportunities in the agro-processing, capital equipment, energy and furniture sectors in the East African country.

This is according to the Department of Trade and Industry (dti) who said in a statement on Friday that the delegation will participate in the Outward Trade and Investment Mission to Kampala from 19-24 May.

According to the Minister of Trade and Industry, Dr. Rob Davies, the main objective of the mission is to increase bilateral trade and investment between South Africa and Uganda.

“The mission will also introduce South African exporters to the Ugandan market with the aim of assisting them to gain entry into this market, identify trade and investment opportunities, and generate export sales. It will also contribute positively in strengthening bilateral economic relations between South Africa,” said …

Sub-Saharan Africa’s economic growth slowed to 2.3 per cent in 2018 from 2.5 per cent in 2017, remaining below population growth for the fourth consecutive year, the World Bank has said.

In the April 2019 issue of Africa’s Pulse, its bi-annual analysis of the state of African economies published on Monday, the bank said regional growth was expected to recover to 2.8 per cent in 2019, staying below three per cent as it has been since 2015.

The slow growth reflects ongoing global uncertainty but increasingly comes from domestic macroeconomic instability including poorly managed debt, inflation, and deficits; political and regulatory uncertainty; and fragility that is having visible negative impacts on some African economies.

It also belies stronger performance in several smaller economies that continue to grow steadily, the bank said.

It noted that Nigeria’s growth rose to 1.9 per cent in 2018 from 0.8 per cent in 2017, reflecting …