President Magufuli 2016 Speech on Economy and Other Issues

Tanzania’s President John Magufuli addressed the nation on November 4th, 2016 to explain the results of his Government’s efforts after one year in power.

During a Q & A open session with reporters at the State House in Dar es Salaam, a number of issues were clarified, including economic growth, industrialization, transport, mining, and tourism.

State of the Tanzanian Economy in 2016

President Magufuli noted that Tanzania is on track of achieving its 7.2% GDP growth target in 2016. He also reminded that Tanzania’s GDP grew by 7% in 2015, while inflation decreased to 4.5% in September 2016.

In relation to Tanzania’s industrialization, the focus of his administration, he indicated that the manufacturing sector’s contribution to the GDP must grow from the current 7.3% to 15% in 2020.

To achieve this, the Government is creating an enabling environment for the private sector to thrive.

Accordingly, the Tanzanian Government seeks to attract both public and private sector investment into various economic developments.

Furthermore, the Government is in talks with China, India, and other African countries to improve economic and trade relations and attract investments in manufacturing, tourism, infrastructure, and social services.

“China has agreed to start about 1,000 small scale industries in Bagamoyo as India offered USD7b seed capital for agriculture projects,” Magufuli said.

Mining

Magufuli indicated that Tanzania plans to further tighten controls on the mining sector to ensure that the country maximizes the benefit from the abundance of its natural resources.

He reminded that some of the gold mines in Tanzania have airstrips, which makes the monitoring of their activities more difficult since it is unclear what those planes are carrying from the mines.

Tanzania must build gold smelters to stop the exports of mineral sand by mining companies,” Magufuli declared.

To address these issues, he indicated that the Government recently approved new mining regulations aimed at ensuring that the benefits of the mining sector are shared between foreign mining companies and Tanzania.

All mining companies operating in Tanzania must list at the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange (DSE) within two years after the approval of the new regulations in September 2016 and have a minimum of 30% local ownership of all paid up shares.

Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism

Magufuli announced that the Tanzanian Government plans to acquire one new Boeing plane, two SC 300 jets and one Bombardier Dash 8400.

The planes are expected for delivery between mid-2017 and early 2018 when “Air Tanzania will have a total of seven planes.”

This is part of the Government’s plan to revive Tanzania’s national carrier, Air Tanzania, and launch direct flights to the US, China, and Russia.

“We want to further develop our tourism and we cannot always rely on foreign airlines,” Magufuli stressed.

In addition, Magufuli’s administration plans to revive all regional airports, starting with Kigoma, Iringa, Morogoro, Singida and Mwanza.

The plan aims to transform the nation’s infrastructure and to boost the tourism sector. He also mentioned that the Government’s plan to shift its administration to Dodoma will open up new tourism attraction sites.

He further explained that the Government is committed to improving the country’s overall infrastructure, for which it has allocated USD455m to the construction of the of Tanzania’s standard gauge railway (SGR) along the central corridor.

John Magufuli was sworn in as Tanzania’s fifth President on November 5th, 2016. During his inauguration speech, he indicated that industrialization will be a key priority for the Government.

For this, industries, producing goods for mass consumption, such as clothes, textiles and edibles, will be encouraged.

Full Video of the speech: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F8D-SDUF0zY&feature=youtu.be