Friday, September 28, 2012

Dar es Salaam Bus rapid project slowed

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DAR ES SALAAM, TANZANIA - The much awaited bus rapid project (DART) that is aimed at easing transport woos in Dar es Salaam and in turn lead to improve the economy of dwellers is said to be facing challenges in its implementation.
(The much awaited Dar bus rapid project is being slowed by shifting of water and electric infrastructure, Photo By Kenan Kalagho)
Speaking during the launch of the project the Minister of Works Dr. John Magufuri said the project was experiencing drawbacks in the delays of shifting both electricity and water infrastructures to pave ways for the fast implementation of the project.
Dr. Magufuri was worried that mobile telecommunication companies and DART officials were slow at fast tracking compensations adding that such delays would later lead to increased costs of setting up of the project.
" We are impressed by the pace of  Strabag International, our Germany contractors But we still haven't started constructing the  two deports at Ubungo area and Kariakoo due to the slow pace of compensation from DART agency" the Minister lamented.
The 20.9kilometre first phase bus rapid project construction that stretch from Kimara to the northern part of Dar es salaam through to Ubungo , Kariakoo to the Dar es Salaam central district at Kivukoni is expected to cost $338 million and will see the construction of six lanes with 29 rapid bus stations and two garage.
The minister however pointed out that the construction of road projects countrywide has led to the creation of about 65,000 jobs with Dar es salaam alone having road construction projects amounting to  Tsh991bn ($630m).
On his part the World Bank Country Representative for Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi Mr. Phillippe Dogier said that Dar es Salaam bus rapid project being implemented was very crucial for the future of the growth of the city.
The World Bank Chief said that it was important for the government of Tanzania to make sure that all the affected communities are being compensated with accordance to the laws of the country noting that the World Bank was keenly looking into making sure that all the citizens being affected by the project are fairly compensated.
Dogier however noted that some 1,800 bus owner will be halted after the project is fully implemented saying there was need for DART to look into possibilities and see how to includes daladala owners to be among the share holders of this newly project of rapid bus transit.
"We need to give preferences of the ownership to the affected business people in the country especially daladala owners by making sure that they buy shares of Dar rapid bus project and be part of the ownership" Dogier said.
The Tanzania Roads Agency (Tanroads) Engineer Mr. Patric Mfugale said that about 20percent of the project has so far been implemented, noting that petty traders and directing the sewerage systems to the construction sites by Dar es Salaam residents was one among the challenges that the contractor was facing and this derails project implementation.
The much awaited Dar bus rapid project commenced in 2005 with a visibility study while the initial construction commencing this year 2012 and expected to be completed in early 2015.
The project is expected to see the construction of roads that would ensure the construction of roads for pedestrians, cyclists and motor vehicle users that would aim at reducing road accidents to a larger extent.
 

Tanzania should emulate Norway oil success

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DAR ES SALAAM, TANZANIA-The country has been asked to learn how to manage Gas and Oil resources so that it can benefit the majority of Tanzanians.
(The Chief Executive Officer Mr. Arve Johnsen presenting a speech recently in DSM, Photo By Kenan Kalagho)
Speaking in Dar es es salaam last week during a meeting that was organized by the Ministry of Energy and Minerals, the Statoil Norway based company Chief Executive Officer Mr. Arve Johnsen said that there was need for Tanzania to come up with policies for the oil and gas sector if the entire country is to benefit from the resources.
He said that the elements and good policies for these natural resources that the country is endowed with were the best practice for a country to move its economy forward and attain its development for both the private and public sector noting that it is only if the government is fully involved in the process that  the development be realized.
"The government is likely to be successful if good policies can be put in place and make sure that the state introduces an operational mining company that will help to oversee the production process and make sure that timely information is released when needed" Mr. Johnsen said.
He noted that Norway, with 50 years experience in both mining and exploration processes, has much to share with the country in order for it to learn how the state can raise the capital in order to be part of the exploration and production of oil and gas resources.
"There is need for the country to know about who will own the pipelines, production process and whether to involve one company or number of them in the whole process.”
He added that due to lack of capital, Norway had to use the reserve it had as a source of capital for the government to have a share in the gas and oil production processes.
He said that there was need for the government to start being involved in the whole processes of production noting that the country should not hesitate to be involved in the process as that would mean it stands a better chance economically as there were a lot of profit in the gas and oil sectors. 
He underscored that with Norway experiences in which there are three companies that were operating in the oil and gas exploration. One was wholly owned by the government while the other is 50% owned by the government and the third company is wholly owned by the private sector.
The Permanent secretary in the Ministry of Energy and Minerals Mr. Eliakim Maswi told East African Business Week that, it was the right time for the country to have these seminars on gas, oil and other exploration companies even before the policies were put into place.
He said, it was important that with the drafting of the gas and oil policies, the government will be able to make inclusions on lessons from Norway so that the oil and gas should benefit the majority of Tanzanians.
"I never knew that in a country like Norway, they had policies that would first benefit the Norwegians before anyone else and that is a good policy that we also need to emulate from them," the PS said.
He said that with the discovery of 33 trillion barrels of gas in Tanzania it was important for a country to look for expatriates from overseas with experience in the sector and see how best we can learn to manage the resources so as to benefit the majority of Tanzanians especially now that we are exploring these resources for business.
The PS also concurred with the Statoil CEO Mr. Johnsen by saying it was important for the government to have the ownership of these resources to make sure that these resources benefit citizens in the country.
Concerning whether the country was prepared in terms of the expertise to manage these gas and oil resources, the PS said that the country has already introduced such trainings in the country and currently there were 10 students being trained at the University of Dodoma in Tanzania while several others from TPDC and the Ministry were oversees receiving similar trainings.
Tanzania hasn't had gas and oil policies since 1952 when the first prospects for exploration started and is expected to start drafting such polices next week.

Monday, September 17, 2012

Africans should trade with each other - OUT

DAR ES SALAAM, TANZANIA - African countries have been urged to open trade amongst themselves if they want to develop and move their economies forward.
Speaking during the Open University of Tanzania (OUT)'s Faculty of Arts and Social Science 20 years' anniversary, the former Prime Minister of Tanzania Mr. Frederick Sumaye said there was a need for African countries to unlock trade amongst themselves for the benefit of their economies.
Responding to East African Business Week in Dar e Salaam last week, on why some African countries including Tanzania is still negotiating for Economic Partnership Trade Agreements (EPA) with Europe, while the said trade agreement were unfair to Tanzania and Africa in general, Sumaye said there was need for Tanzania and other African countries to look at the European markets and see if we are competitive enough to trade with big economy countries of Europe.
"We are trying to jump into these big markets while we know that we cannot cope, Sumaye said adding there were many restrictions trading with European countries markets that have so many equations to make"
He said Africa has a huge market and with the trade that Africa is trading with Asia and China if such trade was to be done amongst African countries, Africa was going to gain more than AGOA and Cotonou trade agreements that has not benefitted the continent.
Mr. Sumaye explained there were Multinational Corporation that were having great influence to trade and were controlling trade in the world for their owns interests and benefits.
"We (Africa) are too small to trade with European countries and we must think of doing business amongst ourselves and utilize the markets with our fellow African states, adding that there is no reason for someone to buy a European product if the same product is manufactured in Zambia with the same quality."
The former prime mister said that there is a dependency syndrome in Africa where African countries think European countries have the responsibilities to develop Africa and this syndrome has made Africa to lag behind economically.
He noted Africans should come up with the programs that will help the region to develop and stop from budget dependency which is failing most of the development projects in the region.
Sumaye said there was need for Tanzania and other African countries to make proper use of the available natural resources in order to benefit the majority of Tanzanians instead of these natural resources benefiting only those who exploit them.
"Being rich in minerals does not make a country rich; we need to stop trading in unprocessed commodities and instead we must turn these products into semi-products and add value to our products by processing them because that will lead to creating employment opportunities as well.
The former prime minister further pointed out that cutting down and exporting timber, cotton and other agricultural products will not make the country become rich but the country need to come with programs that will propel for the construction of industries so that it can export processed commodities.
The former minister however pointed out that, lack of adequate water and electricity are causing hindrance to the flourishing of investment in the region where investors are not assured of these services and doing business becomes expensive for their economy.
Sumaye noted there was need also to put supportive policies on private sector in order to accelerate investment in the country and see the private sector as a partner by supporting.
The third Phase President of Tanzania, Mr. Benjamin Mkapa has often been heard speaking against these international trade agreements especially EPA, trades that gives preferences to African countries in trading with the giant economies of the European and Western countries saying such trades were aimed at dwindling African economies and therefore not fit for East Africa and the continent at large.

Tanzania asked to have moral institutions

DAR ES SALAAM, TANZANIA - Lack of political leadership and failure of moral institution to perform their duties efficiently in the country has led to more Tanzanians to be involved in corrupt practices.
This was said by a renowned media columnist and anti-corruption advocate, Mr. Jenerali Ulimwengu in Dar es Salaam last week while presenting a paper on, "Moral Decay in the Society, Tanzania as a case study"
Ulimwengu said that there was need for Tanzanians to stop turning their mindset into competition of acquiring wealth through dubious means in order for them to gain respect in the society, saying there were people in our societies who are poor but still possess authority and respect in their societies.
"We have had that bad perception amongst our societies of saying one needs to acquire a lot of wealth in order to gain respect in the society and this is a very wrong perception" Ulimwengu said.
He said that the citizen needs to establish a spirit of hard work as a way of acquiring wealth, while saving their money in order to have investments that will be used for future generations and this will in turn lead to development in the country.
He noted that if all Tanzanians were paying taxes as per their requirements, the country would be very far economically and “We are failing to move fast in economic development because there was lax with the Tanzania revenue Authority in tax collection.”
“There are a lot of Tanzanians who work oversees and or they win oversees tenders whenever they come back with the money. But they are never asked by TRA authorities about whether they have paid taxes because TRA knows that they too will be asked whether they are paying taxes accordingly," Ulimwengu said.
He pointed out that there were a lot corrupt practices that have engulfed the TRA and this makes them not to be responsible enough with their duties while at the same time the government was failing to use the resources it has to bring about development to the society.
He argued that while Kenya was more corrupt (using the term ‘mafisadi’), its people were not as corrupt as Tanzanians because, according to him, Tanzania’s corruption is being exercised by many people as compared to Kenya whose corruption was being exercised by few people.
Tanzania has in recent years been involved in the BOT twin towers scandal that involved the misappropriation of funds, embezzlement by Mr. Amatus Liyumba the farmers director of administration and human resources at the Bank of Tanzania (BoT), the electricity Richmond scandal deal that led to the country losing Tsh.179bn on charges, the EPA scandals that involved 20 suspects in the Tsh133bn plus embezzlement of EPA accounts through the Bank of Tanzania.
According to Ulimwengu, other corruption scandals include the radar deal purchase from BAE system of the United Kingdom that led to the loss of more than Tsh.26bn and the money was later returned by the UK government but questions remain on the whereabouts of the said cash and also the sale of government house at a throw price to government officials.
He said it was important to note that the country is experiencing the worst extent of corruption and if these practices are not halted and or controlled the country could turn into chaos.
According to Prof Omari of the Open University of Tanzania, there are many Tanzanians who have acquired wealth through corrupt means and built themselves expensive homes in a country where the mortgage system is at a stand still.
According to Ulimwengu, there is a need for the country to have the independence of the three pillars of the state so that they can be able to hold each other accountable, in order to move the country forward.

Religious tensions mar Tanzania’s census

DAR ES SALAAM, TANZANIA -Tanzania kicked off the population and housing census on 25th August that was to take a period of five days and later given an extension of up to 8th September this year.
The population and housing census was marred by Islamic religious sects who had wanted the religious section to be included in the census claiming that it was important for them to know the status of their population.
These claims however were received by mixed feelings from both the government and other religious sects claiming such inclusion was not important to a country like Tanzania that had no experiences in religious and tribal segregations that were being experienced by other countries.
The census was aimed at knowing how best the government will be able to implement its development plans and not otherwise.
Tanzania President Jakaya Kikwete was quick to note in his national address that there were sections of people circulating words, inciting and discouraging them from participating in this years' population and housing census.
The president noted that there was a group of Islamic religion who had sought for the addition of a question on religion in this year's population and housing census from the National Bureau of statistics office to include a religious section in order to be identified according to their faith saying such a racist questions was abolished for the census inclusion soon after independence as it aimed to divide Tanzanians.
These queries for including the religious section in this years' census was raised after the release of the population statistics from the Catholic Bishops Council of Tanzania, Tourism Board and Broadcasting Corporation Commission claiming Christians in the country were outnumbering Muslim a thing that was opposed by the section of Islamic faith in the country querying about both the accuracy and justification of such statistics.
However, despite the President's speech urging all people especially of the Islamic faith and the head of Islamic faith in Tanzania, also Chief Sheikh Shaaban Issa Simba urging all the Islamic religious people to participate fully in this year' population and housing census, there were still reports of many Tanzanians of Islamic faith not wishing to participate in the census.
It was reported in different local media houses in Tanzania during the weeks of the census about the arrest of Islamic sections who had refused to be counted in this year's population and housing census and most of them were being brought to court to answer charges of going against the directives of the state.
Speaking last week in Dar es Salaam, the Commissioner for Population and Housing Census Ms Hajat Said pointed out that there were several arrests that were made by the police force for failing to abide by the laws of the land.
Other regions includes Kilimanjaro also lying to the northern part of Tanzania where according to the Commissioner for the census the police information said that it was leading in the number of those who refused to be counted and several arrests were made. Mtwara located to the south of Tanzania also was reported with five arrests.
According to the Commissioner this year' population and housing census have had several challenges and insisted that this years' census was like a "war" which the government had made all the preparations to make sure that the whole exercise proves a success.
Ms Said pointed out that for experts, taking too long in the census exercise means that the statistics being collected will have doubts due to "memory lax" which she said with a longer duration of the exercise people tend to be registered on the last minute thereby coming up with incorrect figures.
She again pointed out that the aim of the census was nothing to do with the government wanting to know ones religion and or the population for every religion in the country but rather to see on how best the government can distribute social services to its community with regards to the available peoples' population.
She however noted that Tanzania law permits every individual and or organization to conduct a census and come up with his own statistics while noting that such statistics are not being included for use by the state because the government had its own way of carrying out its population census. Some tribes like the Hadzabe refused to be counted unless they were provided with Bhang, illicit brew (Gongo) and monkeys' meat.
The question is; Will Tanzania have the correct figures of this year' population and housing census with some members of the Islamic faith still refusing to be counted?

Tanzania posts good growth in EAC

DAR ES SALAAM, TANZANIA-Rwanda's economy has come first in the region with a considerable recorded growth of 7.7%t as in the first quarter of this year.
Tanzania came second with an economic growth of 7.1%t while other African states of Kenya and Uganda recorded a growth of less than 3% in the same quarter.
The BOT governor Prof. Benno Ndulu said in Dar es Salaam that Tanzania economic growth record of 7.1% as compared to 5.1% that was recorded last year gives the country an assurance of the projected growth of 6.9 %.
Unveiling the enhanced Government Securities System that will aim at ensuring treasury bills and bonds auctions conform to international best practice and keep pace with technological advancements, the governor said that the country also experienced decline in inflation that he said currently stands at 19.7% as compared to 19.8% July inflation record.
He said the decline in inflation has mainly attributed to a sharp drop of food prices on the local market.
"There has been a considerable drop of food prices by August this year as compared to the prices that were recorded in the month of January through to June where prices of food stuffs and other commodities remained high for several months" the governor said.
Ndulu said it was important for the public to note that Tanzania has not yet recorded the decrease of inflation as per our expectations and it is neither true to say that the country hasn't done anything to insure that inflation is contained to a single digit.
The BOT governor insisted that in the same quarter of September last year the country had recorded the highest inflation of between Tsh.1,828 ($1.15) to Tsh.1,840 ($1.16) against $1 but since January this year there has been a considerable gains of shillings trading at a constant rate of between Tsh.1,570 ($0.99) and Tsh.1575 (0.99) against $1.
"We usually make follow-ups of the trend of the depreciating and gaining of shillings and this means that Tanzania economy is improving" the BOT governor said.
The governor noted that economic improvement that has been realized in the country through the stabilization of the shillings should not be underestimated because many countries in Africa and some big countries in Europe as well were yet to come out of the 2007 economic crunch.
He cautioned experts and politicians not to make comparisons of the past and present with regards to the country's economy as though the periods were the same saying the public needs to take note of the situations of economic crunch that the country faced before making any critics and remarks about the country's economic status.
Commenting on domestic revenue collections the BOT governor Prof Ndulu said that for the first time in the country's history the collections for 2011/2012 financial year had surpassed the target by about 3 to 4%.
He said that while the government domestic revenue stood at Tsh7.2trn ($4.5bn) the normal expenditure stood at Tsh6.9trn ($4.3bn) saying this trend has not been experienced for the past 4years.
"We do face a lot of challenges due to dependency on foreign aid and or financing that do not come at the right time and sometimes the money is never channeled to the required development projects intended and added that foreign aid last year was anticipated at Tsh2.5trn ($1.5bn) but only Tsh1.7trn ($1.0bn)" the governor said.
He said the public need to know that all the grants for the year 2011/2012 financial year constituted to only 21% of the total national budget while grants and loans from the World Bank (WB) and African Development Bank (AFDB) stood at 32% of the total budget.

Thursday, September 6, 2012

East Africa: Make Stand On EPA - EABC Chief


(Felix Mosha, EABC Chairman)
Dar es Salaam — The East African Business Council (EABC) has stressed the need for the East African Community (EAC) to harmonize their stand with respect to Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs).
Speaking during the Regional Private Sector CEO Forum that was organized in partnership with East African Business Council and Trade Mark East Africa in Dar es Salaam last week, the Chairman of East African Business Council Mr. Felix Mosha said EAC states must make their stand on EPAs uniform.
Mosha said the government of Tanzania is aware that the region is capable of harmonising EPAs to reach a common goal of safeguarding EA's interests. He said according to Tanzania, EPAs were not implementable and therefore not fit for the region.
The EPA agreements are fully reciprocal trade arrangements between EU and ACP countries that commenced in 2002 to replace the previous non reciprocal, preferential trade access of ACP countries to EU markets under the various Lome convention and the Cotonou agreements.
"The Community needs to come together and safeguard the interests of the region for the benefit of the people within the region" Mosha said.
Things in the EAC region are not moving as expected because most of the people in the region tend to look back from where the train is coming from instead of moving forward to where the train is headed," he noted.
"When goods move from COMESA to Tanzania, how do, we deal with such goods especially if a particular country is not a member of such a bloc?" he queried and added "this is a point that needs to be worked on so that it doesn't become an obstacle in the integration"
He underscored the need to improve both ICT connectivity within the region and infrastructure saying such developments will reduce haulage time thereby creating a business environment in the region to be more effective.
EAC Secretary General Ambassador Richard Sezibera pointed out that EPA agreements provided a chance for the region to negotiate the terms of trade with Europe something that wasn't possible in the 19th century.
"Europe has always traded with us out of our own interest, sometimes without our will. Now for the first time the EAC has a chance to say this is the way we want the trade between you and us," Sezibera said.
According to him EPA negotiations are being read by partner states and the EA region is negotiating as one entity and the region only negotiates where there is a common position for the member states.

Give Agriculture Priority - Dr. Sezibera


East Africa: Give Agriculture Priority - Dr. Sezibera

(The East African Secretary General Ambassador Richard Sezibera says agriculture should be given priority in the region Photo By Kenan Kalagho)
Dar es Salaam — Banning the exportation of agricultural produce will not improve agriculture the EAC Secretary General has said.
Speaking during the Regional Private Sector CEO Forum in Dar es Salaam last week, Ambassador Richard Sezibera said that banning of food exportation and seed importation experienced last year by Kenya and Tanzania was not a solution to food insecurity in the region.
"As we build the community, there are challenges that need to be faced, " Sezibera said.
He said there was need for the region to improve the free movement of agricultural produce in order to bring benefits to small scale farmers in the region which will in turn lead to improving their economy.
He noted that despite the region having a conducive environment of growing wheat and sugar, there is lack of capacity to produce such raw materials in the region and this has made countries in the region to request for the importation of sugar due to low production in these countries.
The East African Business Council Chairman, Mr Felix Mosha, noted that there was need to look at both the national and East African dimensions when it comes to farming and selling of agricultural produce so that these do not affect the regional protocols thereby hurting farmers as well.
He said that there was need for the government to offer the farmers the same prices like those offered in the local market during droughts instead of imposing export bans because such restrictions reduce the morale of producing more agricultural produce to most small scale farmers in the region.
"The Tanzania Private Sector have been saying that if goods from Tanzania can be smuggled into Kenya territories then Tanzania should see it as an opportunity to exploit the market," Mosha said
"He noted that Tanzania is endowed with vast agricultural resources that include, arable land, abundance of water supply, and a wide road network and this can make the country produce more for the entire region.
"All we need is for the region to provide us with the zero rated taxes on food because food security is the other coin of national security" the EABC Chairman insisted.

The East African countries ranks the highest in medical tourism


By Kenan Kalagho

East African Business Week/04/09/2012

Africa-Health: Medical tourism up

Medical tourism in Africa - The East African countries ranks the highest in medical tourism to India with hundreds of thousand patients travelling to India to seek medical treatment every year. Speaking in Dar es Salaam, last week the Indian Counsellor to Tanzania Mr. Kunal Roy said that there has been a considerable increase with regard to medical tourism from the East African countries which mainly attributes to lower costs involved in treatment in Indian hospitals as opposed to other countries like Europe and the West.

Treating one patient in Europe with heart surgery is equivalent to treating five of such patients in India and this makes many countries around the world and especially in East Africa to seek for medical treatment in India than in the west and or European countries" Counsellor Roy said.
The Indian Counsellor to Tanzania Counsellor Roy said that India has the best infrastructure that has been attained by its government and thus making medical related treatment to be of lower prices compared to Western countries.
He noted that the Indian High Commission was currently in collaboration with the government of Tanzania to erect a 500 bed hospital in the country that would make more Tanzanians receive treatment at home that most could get in India.
The Counsellor further said that besides improving the health sector in the country, the hospital would also train Tanzania medical practitioners, thus reducing congestion at most hospitals in the country.
He also noted that India Medical Tourism Trade Fair last week offered an opportunity to learn from India medical professionals while also offering the public knowledge about the services being offered.
The Regional Director (Trade Fair) Lt Col Vivek Kodikal said about 30 hospitals from India participated in the Medical Tourism.

Monday, September 3, 2012


Home Business Digest

Business Digest

Making a living from flowers

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DAR ES SALAAM, TANZANIA-Until recently flowers were never treated as business that one could venture in, to earn a living. It was mostly looked at as a décor to home surroundings or planted around homes as a way of preventing dust from penetrating the house.
Mrs. Haika Sichone owns a florist shop at Namanga, five kilometers to the north of Dar es Salaam city and says that being a florist requires largely a taste for colours.
“The florist business does not necessarily need a person to attain a class but the knowledge of playing with colour arrangements and the creativity in designing the shapes and flowers designs in the interest customers,” Sichone said..


(Mrs Haika Sichone a florist at Namanga in Dar es salaam says flower business is booming and many florist shops have opened up around the area, Photo By Kenan Kalagho)
Sichone notes that back in 2003 when she was first introduced to a florist business by a colleague with a capital of only $300, there were only two of them in the trade until recently where about 26 flower shops have opened up in the same locality.
"Back then people didn't know what it was all about trading in fresh flowers because most of them could trade in plastic/ artificial  flowers" Sichone says
With the progress that Sichome realised from the business, more people open up more florist shops and increasingly trade in fresh flowers.
“Customers are continously gaining taste for fresh flowers which has made many florist business people to follow the trend,” she said adding that
"Fresh flowers are more appealing  than plastic ones and the biggest market dominated by Europeans likes carrying fresh roses and other flowers to their partners as a way of symbolizing that their relationship is 'more living than dead."
Sichome imports the greatest share of flowers.
" We import flowers like Roses, Mums, Wisteria, Greens, Carnations and many more others at a price of $1,265 (Tsh2,000) per stem and sell them at $ 1.581 (Tsh2,500) a rose"  Sichone says.
The greatest problem according to Sichome is the perishability of flowers which results into losses especially those transported by bus that end up shrunken and not fit for sale.
‘The flower market is very seasonal, with peaks at Christmas, Valentines and Mothers’ Day amomng others and so in times of off season, sustaining the business can  be a great challenge,” she adds. “We still have very few Africans buying these flowers as presents to their parents, fiancées or as gifts to their friends because most of them still do not value that originality goes along with fresh flowers.”
Sichome has expanded operations into decorating wedding receptions, funeral, inetrior and  office decorations.
"I usually charge between $ 632 and $1,265 (Tsh1,000,000 and $2,000,000) for a wedding decoration, however, the price may either go up or be reduced depending with the capacity of the hall and the type of flowers used but at times we go to as low as $300 depending on the size of the venue,” explains Sichome.
She says that the choice of flowers for a client determines the cost of doing business.
"For instance, the roses' are the most expensive flowers and so any inclusion of flowers is an automatic increase in costs,’ Sichome says.
She says that despite roses being more expensive, they have a  short life span of at least four days before they start to shrink as opposed to Carnations that takes almost two weeks.
Sichome explains that depending on the cutting style of flowers one has applied in her decorations, the same flowers can be used in decorating more than just one function.
"Cutting very short flowers limits usage for other events for intance an office décor requires long cuts than the wedding décor,” Sichone says
Flowers are a big part of people’s lives. Their beauty and color allows people to convey their messages perfectly get-well soon for sick friends and family, congratulatory messages to a newly promoted colleague, condolences to a grieving family, and to express  love to another person. Every occasion is celebrated with flowers.
Sichome says a florist can be a Floral supplier, whole sale florist service or retail florist service.
“For one to be a floral supplier requires selling the various non-growing components that floral designers use in making arrangements: ribbons, vases, baskets, floral foam, wreath, frames, stands and other supplies which requires an extensive inventory and an efficient distribution system,” notes Sichome.
Retail florist services range in size and function from a hospital flower kiosks to large flower shops in the mall serving different customer needs.
“A flower shop may focus on providing arrangements for weddings, funerals, gifts, and other occasions and deliveries. A business floral service caters to business people where floral designs tend to be more conservative and longer-lasting,” sehe explains.
“A hospital flower kiosk offer primarily bright and cheerful flowers that need little maintenance as possible and  you can also choose to create a niche.” 
Sichome does not regret starting the florist business because it has been the sole source for educating her children.
“My children can hardly miss school due to lack of school fees, I have as well established a personal home as well as expanding the business to serve more people at a time,” Sichome explains.
With the business, Sichome expects to further expand boundaries to create room for serving more customers and open up more outlets.