Economy
From The Report: Tanzania 2018
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Tanzania is one of sub-Saharan Africa’s fastest-growing economies, boasting average GDP growth of around 7% per year since 2000. Significant investment in rail, port and road development is likely to drive GDP expansion into the next decade. While the ongoing process of economic reform presents challenges to some sectors, and weak budget execution and policy uncertainty have dampened investment, the overall macroeconomic picture remains favourable. The presence of abundant natural resources, a reform-oriented government and a 53m-strong population that is growing at an annual rate of 3% are just some of the key growth drivers that will help Tanzania remain an interesting prospect for investors. This chapter contains an interview with Godfrey Simbeye, Executive Director, Tanzania Private Sector Foundation.

Articles from this Chapter

Overview

All to play for: Fiscal reforms and infrastructure investment offer potential for growth, despite short-term challenges
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The second-largest economy in the EAC, with an estimated population of 53m, Tanzania is one of the biggest consumer markets in the region. A stable democracy combined with extractive wealth, a favourable climate for agriculture, and natural assets such as Mount Kilimanjaro and the Serengeti National Park have helped it build a relatively high rate of growth over the last decade, averaging 6-7% per year. In 2017 the government of President John Magufuli formulated its second budget, which…

Analysis

Industrial evolution: Appetite for reform heats up both at home and abroad
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One of the focal points of the Tanzanian government’s long-term development strategy is industrialisation. In the five-year development plans (FYDPs) that serve as the foundation for the Tanzania Development Vision 2025, manufacturing is a key component. The second FYDP – covering 2016 to 2021 – set a sectoral growth target of over 10% annually, along with an increase from just under one-quarter to just under one-third of total exports. Unrealised Potential The government’s focus…

Analysis

Easy does it: A measured approach to formalisation is getting positive results
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The informal sector makes up a large share of activity in most of Africa’s largest economies. The OECD estimates that informal work accounts for two-thirds of non-agricultural employment in sub-Saharan Africa. In the case of Tanzania the figure is even higher, with 76% of the non-agricultural workforce subsisting outside the formal economic framework. There are many benefits of the informal sector – including low barriers to entry, and high levels of competition, entrepreneurship and…

Interview

Closing the gap: Godfrey Simbeye, Executive Director, Tanzania Private Sector Foundation (TPSF), on private-public sector dialogue
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Interview:Godfrey Simbeye, Executive Director, Tanzania Private Sector Foundation (TPSF) What is the greatest challenge facing the private sector in Tanzania? GODFREY SIMBEYE: When you talk about the private sector in Tanzania, there are two categories — the foreign private sector and the local private sector. For the local private sector, the single biggest challenge is access to finance. Meeting with CEOs of foreign companies, TPSF has found they do not share this issue, because they…

Analysis

Progress report: Government strategy is creating a smoother path for businesses
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Improving Tanzania’s business environment is central to the government’s drive to encourage investment. Ranking in the top 100 of the World Bank’s “Doing Business” report was a target of the first five-year development plan that ran to 2016. However, by the time the second plan covering 2016-21 was formulated in 2016, Tanzania had fallen nine places to 139th out of 189. Recent Rankings In the “Doing Business 2017” report, Tanzania climbed 12 places from its 2016 level to rank…

Analysis

Broader base: Recent efforts to reduce the fiscal deficit have sparked debate
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Widening the tax net is an important part of the government’s attempt to reduce its fiscal deficit and balance the books. Its principal tool in this effort is value-added tax (VAT), which accounted for 63% of consumption taxes in 2013/14, according to the Ministry of Finance and Planning. Adjusting the VAT schedule typically has an immediate impact on government revenue streams. However, two amendments to the system have recently shown that such change can bring mixed results. Tourism…