Africa: Dar es Salaam to Host Africa Freight Forwarders' Conference

East African Business Week (Kampala)

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By Kenan Kalagho, 15 April 2013

Dar es Salaam, Tanzania — Tanzania Association of Freight Forwarders (TAFFA) has won a bid to host the International Federation of Freight Forwarders Association (FIATA) regional conference for Africa and the Middle East (RAME) this June. TAFFA first launched their campaign to host this prestigious conference in 2003.

(TAFFA President Stephen Ngatunga, Photo By Kenan Kalagho)
With the theme 'Towards more sustainable regional freight forwarding partnership' the conference will bring together public and private-sector participants in the field of transport logistics.
Speaking to East African Business Week in Dar es Salaam, TAFFA President Stephen Ngatunga said the conference will look at sharing ideas and finding solutions to prevalent problems.
The conference comes at a time when the country is embarking on an expansion and modernization of ports and railway lines with much of the new financing coming from the Chinese government.
This is in the wake of a recent visit by Chinese President Xi Jinping when 17 contracts were signed among them aiming at expanding the country's ports.
Ngatunga said TAFFA won the right to host RAME by organizing a series of well targeted presentations around the region and further afield centred on the opportunities available in the freight forwarding business in the near future and Tanzania's plans to keep pace with these developments.
"Business people from around the globe need to know that Tanzania is accessible though Dar es Salaam, Mtwara and Bagamoyo ports," Ngatunga said adding that advertising these ports abroad will hopefully attract more business people.
FIATA is a nongovernmental organization, representing an industry covering approximately 40,000 forwarding and logistics firms, who employ about eight to 10 million people in 150 countries around the world.
This global trade event which will also be co-hosted by the Ministry of Transport and involve 300 senior clearing agents and freight forwarders, business delegates, government officials , ambassadors and trade representatives from the African and Middle East regions.
The meeting will also focus on directing participants on programmes that wholly focuses on freight forwarding and trade related issues in Africa and the Middle East regions.

Tanzania digital tech crawling

Monday, 08 April 2013 08:43 Kenan Kalagho, EAST AFRICAN BUSINESS WEEK, kampala, UGANDA. 

DAR ES SALAAM, TANZANIA - The Tanzania government is still grappling with its insistence that the country switch from analogue to digital broadcasting before most of the country was ready on December 31st last year.
The deputy minister for Communication and Science Technology, January Makamba soon came to the rescue with a directive that saw the switching off of the analogue technology be done in phases.
He said to start with Dar es Salaam and then move to other regions of Mwanza, Arusha, Tanga, Dodoma and Mbeya in the months that follow.
According to the Minister, the migration of analogue to digital in phases was the only way that was going to give viewers of other regions enough time to prepare.
However last week the government said in a press statement availed to East African Business Week that it was not reversing its stand of switching to digital transmission.
The government through the of Minister Communication, Science and Technology, Makame Mbarawa said in a press statement that all the relevant stakeholders were fully involved in the process leading to the shift and none had challenged the government decision.
The Minister said that the global deadline for the migration as given by the International Telecommunication Union is June 17, 2015 but East African Community member states agreed on a much earlier date, although Kenya, Uganda and  Zanzibar have all postponed, citing a number of stumbling blocks. These countries were also supposed to make the shift on December 31, 2012.
Prof Mbarawa said that the Media Owners Association during a recent meeting in Dar es Salaam had asked the government to revert to analogue broadcasting. He said this was aimed at undermining the digital migration process for their own self-interests and it may confuse the public on the importance and relevance of digital broadcasting.
He said that it was important for the government to let investors in digital broadcasting infrastructure continue with their investment in order to let the public know that the age of analogue broadcasting is over.
Tanzania has so far seen the operation of at least four digital broadcasting companies that includes Zuku, and  Kenyan digital broadcasting company, DSTV, a South African company which are both pay TV with Star Time owned by a Chinese firm, Ting owned by local channel ATN television and, Digitech locally licensed to operate in Tanzania. 
Despite the fact that Tanzania has so far three locally licensed digital broadcasting corporations, many Tanzanians still find it hard to access information through digital technology due to the costs that are involved which includes monthly subscription fee.
A random survey made by East African Business Week in Dar es salaam over a month discovered that as life in Dar es salaam becomes more and more hard to locals, a number of residents still find it hard to be connected with digital broadcasting as they battle for the electricity, water and house rent bills that has increased tremendously in recent years.
Mr. Kephaus Mapunda, a Tabata resident says it is now becoming harder for a lay man to have to settle electricity, water and house rental bills with the increased hardships.
“We normally choose to forgo digital broadcasting despite in importance in giving us information, says Mapunda adding that the government would have set the minimum fee for the fee and decoder if it was to be serious about access to information to its public”
Last week’s statement by the government of not tolerating any group or individual bent on distorting facts about undermining the digital migration comes as the Media Owners Association of Tanzania (MOAT) claim that more preparations were needed for the country’s digital migration.
MOAT has often been heard in its meeting claiming that there were more Tanzanians who have been left without access to information through the radio and Television due to new arrangements of the digital migration.
Moat Chairman Reginald Mengi said during a media stakeholders meeting that they were not opposing the digital migration but rather there was need to create low- income earners to have access to information through radio and television.
He said that about 75% of Dar es Salaam residents no longer have access to TV broadcasts, as only a fraction of the 7 million Dar residents and its environs owning TVs have managed to buy decoders.

Weather, disease hurting farmers

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East African Business Week, kampala UGANDA

Monday, 08 April 2013 08:47 Kenan Kalagho 

 

(Wilfred Mushomozi explaining about breeding in his laboratory, Photo By Kenan Kalagho)

There are unending debates with in East Africa as to whether to adopt the use of GMO crops or not.East African Business Week’s Kenan Kalagho talked to Wilfred Mushobozi, a scientist and the Director of Sustainable Agriculture and Agribusiness Development in Tanzania for who shared his views about allowing the use of GMO seeds. 

President Jakaya Kikwete called for a change in perception in as far as adopting Genetic Modified Organisms (GMOs) technology is concerned. What is your view about it?
I agree with the president. It is a good idea to enable the farmers to access seeds that will withstand the current climatic changes; pest and disease pressure and, at the same time improve food security.

Will there be any effects of GMOs on Tanzania’s economy and small scale farmers?
The benefits of the ‘Bt cotton’ are a reduction in pesticide use, an increase in yields and profits, and health benefits for cotton farmers who often apply pesticides without protective clothing.
Small scale farmers suffer the most when there are weather hazards, pests and disease .This of course affects their yields.
For example in Kagera region, banana bacterial wilt has reduced banana yields in some villages by as much as 80 – 99%.
If banana (matoke) can be genetically modified to be resistant to bacterial wilt, fungal or viral infestation, farmers will be able to improve banana production in addition to increasing food security and household income.

Tanzania has of recent embarked on various plans that aim at modernizing farming methods like Kilimo Kwanza. How will the technology help?
Arable land in Tanzania including SAGCOT area has higher potential for production of food and trade crops that could be marketed both regionally and internationally.
If GM rice or sugarcane can withstand prolonged water stress in these arable areas is made available, it will allow the increase of production area and yields of these crops. 

What Xi Jinping visit means to Tanzania

Wednesday, 03 April 2013 09:55 Kenan KalaghoKAMPALA, UGANDA.

DAR ES SALAAM, TANZANIA - The new China President Xi Jinping last week made a remarkable first visit to Africa since his appointment and chose Tanzania to be his first country to tour.
This was among the three African countries he was visiting which included South Africa and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
His visit to Tanzania saw him signing 17 contracts among which included the three year Economic and Technical Cooperation worth $800m (Tsh1.8trn) aimed at implementing various projects.
These economic partnerships that were signed meant that part of the funds will be allocated to funding soft loans and the development of the portside industrial zone that would also includes the construction of Bagamoyo special economic zone.
It should be noted that in the recent past Tanzania Minister for Industry and Trade Dr Abdullah Kigoda has often been heard claiming that Tz may never attain the needed middle income status by 2025.
He says unless the country focuses on industrialization that would mean creating employment opportunities for local Tanzanians.
Minister Kigoda has often stressed that improving both industries and trade with partner states would mean having market access to Tanzania manufactured products.
He argues that it would lead to improving the economy as well, while stressing the need for both the private sector and the government to work hand in hand in driving the economy forward.
While briefing journalist on President Xi Jinping visit last week, Tanzania Minister for Foreign Affairs Mr. Bernard Membe said that among the contracts to be signed will aim at enabling millions of Tanzania tobacco growers have direct access to Chinese markets.
Membe noted that by assuring market for tobacco growers, it would lead them to produce more tobacco for export that will mean improving the economy as well.
Among other projects in the framework to be financed by the Chinese government includes Infrastructure Development Cooperation (phase I) and a project on modern agricultural industrialization zone.
Speaking during Xi Jinping inaugural of Mwalimu JK Nyerere International Convention Centre in Dar es Salaam, a building also constructed by a Chinese firm, Tanzania President Jakaya Kikwete noted that the visit by Chinese president to Tanzania was a good sign that aimed at opening doors for increased investment and promotion in the country by the far-east nation.
He said that it was important for the country to understand that reliable partnership between Tanzania and China was going to remain strong because Chinese support is based on the mutual benefit between countries that rendered no interference to respective countries.
The Chinese counterpart on the other hand expressed stressed for the respect of sovereignty and respect of States saying his country’s support to Africa was not going to interfere with the respective country’s’ sovereignty.
Xi Jinping made his special address to Africa countries from Dar es Salaam saying Chinese government was going to intensify and not slacken off its efforts to cooperate with Africa. He also noted that his country was committed to supporting and safeguarding the interests of developing countries.
He stressed that for African countries to move forward and attain the required economic growth, it was important for both the respective country and China to tackle such problems in a win-win situation in order to register more success.
The Chinese President also noted that his country will be increasing soft loans to Africa amounting to $20bn between 2013 and 2015 stressing that Africa will always remain the Chinese priority.
Tanzania also continues to benefit from scholarships being offered by the Chinese government to Tanzania students seeking for their higher education an opportunity that sees thousands of students receiving their undergraduate programs in China universities.The country has also seen an increase in various projects being undertaken by Chinese firms in the aspect of mining where Chinese firms are involved in iron ore and coal mining at Mchuchuma, and Liganga.
Chinese companies have also been seen involvement in different construction sites in the country especially to do with road and buildings where Chinese companies have seen to play a bigger role in the construction sector