Angela Normino
Tanzania has made significant progress in all sectors of development during the past three years under stable leadership of President Samia Suluhu Hassan and the prospects remain much more promising for further improvement, it has been said.
Chief Government Spokesperson, Mr Mobhare Matinyi, who also doubles as the Director of Information Services, MAELEZO, in Dar es Salaam yesterday, while meeting with editors and journalists further highlighted notable achievements during her leadership as increase in freedom of the press as among others.
“When President Samia came into power, she ordered the relevant organs to lift ban on several media outlets including Mwanahalisi, Mawio, Mseto, and Tanzania Daima newspapers that had been banned for a long time,” Mr Matinyi noted.
He during the same period, a number of registered publications have increased from 266 in 2021 to the current 351, which is equal to an increase of 87 publications.
Mr Matinyi said the Media Services Act, Cap 229 and its regulations were amended in June last year after the government received views from various stakeholders, where the Minister for Information, Communication and Information Technology Mr Nape Nnauye signed the regulations in January this year.
“The government is also continuing with the completion of the important steps for the implementation of this law, starting with the creation of an Accreditation Board that will enable the creation of an Independent Media Council and a Training Fund for Journalists,” he said.
He added: “The Ministry is continuing with the process of improving the Information and Broadcasting Policy of 2003… These improvements are taking place due to the opinion received from various stakeholders who felt it was wise making the improvements.”
He mentioned other sectors that have prospered significantly as investment, where from March 2021 to March 2024, the Tanzania Investment Centre (TIC) managed to register a total of 1,188 projects worth 15,041 million US dollars (over 38tri/-).
He said the schemes provided a total of 345,464 jobs. The value of investments in institutions that are under Office of Treasury Registrar (OTR) has increased from 70tir/- in 2021 to 76tri/- in 2023, which is equal to an increase of 8.6 per cent.
Increase in investment is attributed to smoothed investment atmosphere, encompassing the economic diplomacy and the New Investment Act.
The list include education, social services, power generation, access to electricity and water in both rural and urban settings realising great improvements.
Other areas were the transport sector in terms of air, railway, ports and marine as well as roads’ constructions and improvements in urban and rural areas.
Mr Matinyi further said that Tanzania is excelling in international relations ad strengthened peace and security.
Elaborating, the Government Spokesperson, added that in the mineral sector, from March 2021 to February 2024, the Ministry of Minerals succeeded in developing the industry in various ways, including collecting revenues from various fees, royalties, fines and penalties amounting to 1.93tri/-.
Likewise in the period of three years, the budget in the agricultural sector increased from 294.16 bn/- in 2021/2022 to 970.78 bn/- in 2023/2024 while the budget of the livestock also shot up from 47.8bn/- in 2021/22 to 112bn/ – in 2023/24.
According to Mr Matinyi, tourism sector was the leading sector that brought foreign currency to the country and now has reached 3.37 billion US dollars, equivalent to 8tri/-.
“This industry has to thank President Samia for her role in the production of “Tanzania: The Royal Tour” film,” he pointed put. In the transport sector, sixth phase government initiated the construction of five new lots of Standard Gauge Railway (SGR), three of which are in the completion stage.
Speaking on the improvement of marine transport, he said that the number of ships increased from 4,318 in March 2021 to 4,762 in February 2024, equivalent to an increase of 10.28 per cent equal to an average increase of 11.79 per cent per year.
In aviation service, the government continued to strengthen Air Tanzania Company Limited (ATCL) by procuring more aircrafts to improve the provision of aviation services and stimulate the growth of other economic sectors.
Moreover, Mr Matinyi said that Ministry of Work through Tanzania National Roads Agency (TANROADS) has completed 25 road projects with a length of 1,198.50 kilometres, adding that a total of 57 roads of 3,794.1 kilometres are in various stages of implementation.
In energy sector, government is implementing a major historical project to generate electricity at Julius Nyerere Hydroelectric Power Project (JNHPP).
“This project will have nine turbines with the capacity to produce 235 megawatts each, making a total of 2,115 megawatts,” he added.
In water sector, he said that a total of 1,633 water supply projects have been completed and started providing services to citizens living in 2,534 villages.
Currently, a total of 9,259 villages out of 12,318 in the country have access to water, equivalent to 75.2 per cent, saying the goal is to reach 85 per cent in rural areas and 95 per cent in urban areas by 2025 as directed by the ruling party CCM election manifesto.
In the health sector, the investment through Local Government Authorities (LGAs) reached a total of 916.6bn/- in three years, where they aimed to improve the infrastructure to provide basic health services.
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