Special
Tanzania
HOPE GLIMMERS ON THE HORIZON SECOND FIVE YEAR DEVELOPMENT PLAN SHOULD GIVE THE COUNTRY MIDDLE INCOME STATUS BY 2025
One year ago, we did an introductory article on Tanzania. In that article we mentioned that this country from the South-East of the African continent is not one of the main pioneers. On the contrary, the country is still poor and, amongst other things, faces major problems in the area of forest management. Forest felling is a widespread practice, certainly because the needy population is only too happy to use wood (and charcoal) to meet its own energy needs.
Scaling down donor dependency
We can nevertheless state that scores have initiatives have started up to give a glimmers of hope on the horizon. Projects such as the community forest management in the district of Kilwa, for instance, where community forest management and the execution of forestry strategies help to preserve more vegetation and create a habitat for biodiversity. Or there’s the Mpingo project Rainforest Projects, where the NGO, together with partner FSC, has set up a system of sustainable forest management and is responsible for planting new trees.
The mining and export of soil resources (especially gas) should also help to achieve that aim. At the same time, the government is trying to scale down donor dependency and encourage foreign investment, especially in the agriculture sector. The major Tanzanian economic sectors are agriculture, financial and commercial services, trade, tourism, and production. The agricultural processing of sugar, beer, cigarettes, and sisal rope accounts for a large part of Tanzanian industry. In addition, diamond, gold, and iron mining, salt, sodium carbonate, cement, oil refining, shoes, clothes, wood products, and fertiliser also form a major part of industry. The main exports are gold, coffee, cashew nuts, and cotton. The main export partners are India, China, Japan, Kenya, and, yes, Belgium. In particular, Tanzania imports a lot of consumer goods, machines, means of transport, industrial raw materials, and crude oil.
Such initiatives are essential, even though about 45% of the country is still covered by woods. 45% sounds a lot, but you have to realise that only a small part is exploited in a commercially responsible manner. Unfortunately, deforestation still continues at a rate of about 91,000 hectares a year.
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From an economic point of view, according to Flanders Investment & Trade, Tanzania is certainly one of the biggest East African countries, but there is nonetheless only limited trade. At any rate, one hopeful sign is that the Tanzanian government is striving for industrialisation and strong economic growth with the help of the second Five Year Development Plan (FYDPII). That should give the country middle income status by 2025.
