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How this budget embraces digital technologies
What you need to know:
- The Finance and Planning minister, Dr Mwigulu Nchemba, said yesterday when presenting the national budget for the financial year 2023/24 with emphasis that in the digital economy, all sectors will have to effectively collaborate through a better digital environment.
Dar es Salaam. The government has said it will continue to manage the digital revolution as a crucial venture for transforming the nation to a digital economy in the financial year 2023/24.
The Finance and Planning minister, Dr Mwigulu Nchemba, said yesterday when presenting the national budget for the financial year 2023/24 with emphasis that in the digital economy, all sectors will have to effectively collaborate through a better digital environment.
In achieving the intended goal, he said, “the government will implement various projects, including the expansion of the National ICT Broadband Backbone (NICTBB); the Digital Tanzania; and Develop the Innovation and Manufacturing of ICT Equipment.”
On the NICTBB, Tanzania Telecommunications Company Limited (TTCL) has been given the mandate to ensure the expansion of the backbone after signing a Sh37.3 billion contract with Huawei Tanzania in April 2023 for its expansion to 23 districts in the country.
The government believes that the expansion of the 1,520-kilometre national broadband backbone will bring massive transformation to the areas, some of which have no communication at all.
The signing came into effect days after President Samia Suluhu Hassan directed TTCL to take charge and transform itself into a successful broadband provider.
The government, through the Digital Tanzania Project (DTP), implemented by the Ministry of Information, Communication and Information Technology (MICIT), intends to increase access to affordable, high-quality internet services for government, businesses and citizens and to improve the government’s capacity to deliver digital public services.
Supported by the World Bank, DTP is classified under three major components; the Digital Ecosystem, Digital Connectivity and Digital Government Platform and services. The three components, according to the government, focus on promoting industrialization, better and improved government services, and the creation of youth employment for social and economic development, hence economic growth.
In this regard, the government also wants to increase the number of experts required for the 4th industrial revolution; thus, thus Dr Nchemba proposed the removal of tuition fees for Form Four graduates who join Dar es Salaam Institute of Technology (DIT), Mbeya University of Science and Technology (MUST) and Arusha Technical College (ATC), which offer nationally prioritised courses.
Dr Nchemba reminded us that the 2023/24 budget will support the government’s efforts to implement the Tanzania Development Vision 2025 and the Third National Five-Year Development Plan (2021/22–2025/26).
“In achieving these goals, every citizen should participate and work hard to utilise available opportunities. It is my hope that the effective implementation of this budget will stimulate economic growth and human development,” he said.
