Horticultural exports set for fresh boost
Arusha. The government is looking for ways to introduce scheduled cargo flights for exporters of horticultural produce and fish.
One of the options is for the newly-revamped Air Tanzania Company Limited (ATCL) to buy air cargo planes.
Works, Transport and Communications minister Isack Kamwelwe told a business forum here yesterday that discussions were underway between the government and stakeholders in the two sectors on the need for dedicated cargo flights.
He said while Mwanza airport will serve as a hub for fish cargo exports, Kilimanjaro and Songwe international airports will continue to be the focal points for horticultural exports.
The state-owned ATCL acquired a total of six planes recently, none of which is dedicated for air freight operations.
Mr Kamwelwe also briefed the well-attended forum at the Arusha International Conference Centre (AICC) on the operations of the Dar es Salaam port.
He said the port handed a record 592,000 containers last year, just 8,000 containers short of 600,000 which would make it move to a middle level port.
Internationally, the first level port handles a million containers and above, the minister explained.
Mr Kamwelwe was responding to concerns raised by the Tanzania Horticultural Association (Taha) at the forum on the challenges facing the sector.
Speaking at the event, Taha CEO and executive director Jacqueline Mkindi said poor business enabling environment in Tanzania such as high taxation, was scaring away potential investors.
Already five horticultural companies have closed shop and relocated to Ethiopia, Rwanda and Kenya after finding the conditions not conducive.
“Survival of some horticultural firms is at stake under the current business environment in Tanzania”, she warned. She said agriculture and fast-growing horticulture sub-sector in particular has to grapple with nearly 50 taxes which have made it less competitive.
Ms Mkindi, who is the current chairperson of the Agricultural Council of Tanzania (ACT), said agriculture was the most heavily taxed sector in the country.
The tax burden, she further warned, could deal a severe blow to agriculture, the backbone of the country’s economy if not fully addressed by relevant authorities.
Ms Mkindi said horticultural producers and exporters were worried by the amended VAT Act, 2014.
The Act, to come into force in July this year, will ban export of raw agricultural products, effectively prohibiting most horticultural exports which have to be sold overseas in fresh form. The organization of horticultural producers and exporters based in Arusha will strongly lobby against the ban.
Representatives of the hospitality industry were once again furious over taxation but this time directed most of their complaints to the regulatory bodies.
“The big problem we are facing is that the regulatory bodies have turned into tax collectors”, lamented Mr Willy Chamburo, the chairperson of the Tanzania Association of Tour Operators (Tato).
