Tanzania and Zanzibar IPs Reviewed

(Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, 18 -19 January, 2002)
UNIDO Director-General (DG) Carlos Magariños just returned from an eight-nation tour (18 - 31 January, 2002) of Africa ( Tanzania, Burundi, Rwanda, Kenya, Uganda, Ethiopia, Sudan, Eritrea) where he reviewed, jointly with national authorities, public and private sector, as well as the donor community, the implementation and impact of ongoing UNIDO integrated programmes (IPs). We will be reporting on all eight countries over the next weeks. The first stop, and subject of this weeks story: Tanzania.

The UNIDO IP for Tanzania, started in March 1999, had six components: Industrial Development Policy; Small and Medium Enterprise Development; Investment and Finance; Productivity, Technology and Competitiveness; Environment and Private Sector Development. Tanzania's Minister of Industry and Trade Juma Ngasongwa and the Director-General both considered all of the components had made valuable contributions to building capacity within Tanzania to enhance industrial competitiveness and agreed that all ongoing activities should be continued. During the visit, the DG paid a courtesy call on Vice President Aliu Mohammed Shein and had discussions with Prime Minister Sumaye, along with Ministers responsible for Agriculture and Food Security; Energy and Minerals; Environment; Tourism and Natural Resources; Water and Livestock Development; and Finance. In the meeting with the Cabinet, the Prime Minister stressed the President Mkapa's objective of making Tanzania self-reliant in food within the next five years "and stop looking for food aid from donors". According to a report in the Tanzania Guardian, Minister Ngasongwa said the "success of the programme is commendable" singling out "fish exports to the European market, studies in competitiveness of Tanzania's industry, organization of investment promotion missions and introduction of cleaner production technologies" for special mention.

Discussions on the Tanzanian IP included the direction, focus and financing of stage II which will comprise two main areas: the development of the small and medium enterprise sector and the management of the environment. Programmes will be elaborated to include issues such as mitigation of post-harvest losses, establishment of modern meat processing facilities, improvement of indigenous food processing and storage facilities, support to waste management, utilization of sisal waste for the production of energy and other products, as well as building capacities in the country to meet obligations set by Internatonal Conventions and Regulations for the environment. These activities will be formulated in the context of the technical cooperation objectives outlined in the UN Development Assistance Framework for Tanzania, as well as the Poverty Reduction Strategy Paper, the Tanzania Assistance Strategy and the Government's Development Vision 2025.

While in Tanzania, the Director-General also discussed the Zanzibar IP with a delegation which included the Minister for Trade, Industries, Marketing and Tourism, Mohamed A. Mohamed, Minister of State for Finance from the President's Office, Suleiman Nyanga, Director of ZIPA (Zanzibar Investment Promotion Agency) Hamed Hikmany and Director for Industries, Ali Rajab. It was agreed to continue the existing IP, with a focus on the establishment of a production centre for processing spices.

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