Industrialisation earns MCL praise

Dar es Salaam. The government has hailed Mwananchi Communications Limited (MCL) for carrying forward the industrialisation agenda.

The compliment was made on Wednesday by the acting director of Investment at the ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, Mr Aristides Mbwasi, during the relaunch of The Citizen newspaper, MCL’s daily English newspaper.

The Citizen had been redesigned with a new look from yesterday. It has now more business content than before.

He said it was crucial for media companies to keep disseminating industrialisation ideology for readers to enable them to take on board the government agenda for smooth implementation.

“The government is very encouraged by MCL’s role in highlighting our industrialisation efforts and call upon other media houses, civil society and other institutions to emulate this example,” he said.

He reassured of the government’s cooperation in disseminating investment information.

“As government, we will continue to improve the business climate to attract more investors,” explained Mr Mbwasi.

Speaking at the event, CEO Roundtable (CEOrt) chairman Ali Mufuruki reminded the MCL staff to continue working fairly and professionally for the betterment of the country. He said MCL was the only media company, whose content had been able to attract foreign investment in the country.

“I’m optimistic that they will continue doing a good job and produce quality publication with informative knowledge for readers,” he said.

Mr Mufuruki said journalists should continue being neutral so that they could report fairly. “The quality of The Citizen newspaper, which started 13 years ago, is attributed to its professional staff, ” he said.

“People will always support credible news and I’m sure that the success of MCL will continue inspiring others. I hope that our colleagues from the government will appreciate the efforts made by the private sector in the country.”

Mr Mufuruki thanked The Citizen newspaper for supporting the country’s business agenda that sought to bring about economic liberation for Tanzanians.

He said this was despite working under difficult regulatory and political climate, with those in authority sometimes not agreeing with a powerful free press.

Mr Mufuruki, who is the founding chairman of MCL, noted that, while the industrialisation agenda was critical for the country, its mechanism was often not understood even by those in government.

“I sometimes get fascinated when officials accuse investors of abandoning privatised industries yet they do not stop to ask why they failed in the first place,” he said.

He noted that for the industrialisation agenda to succeed, the government must be ready to work closely with the private sector and put in place support mechanisms for growth.

“In other countries taxing businesses is not the end in itself rather a dialogue that helps the producers create more wealth and jobs which in turn earns the tax man more income.”

For his part, MCL board of directors chairman Leonard Mususa said the company now focuses on reaching more people through various channels, including digital platforms.

“We are on print and digital channels and The Citizen is among the best publications,” he noted.

MCL executive editor Bakari Machumu said the redesigning was a result of research conducted on readers’ needs.

“The new look will cover 60 per cent of the business content, ” he said.