EXCLUSIVE: Inside IFC’s strategy to boost investments in Tanzania

Executive Editor

Mwananchi Communications Limited

What you need to know:

In his first visit to Tanzania since he was appointed Managing Director of World Bank Group’s International Finance Corporation (IFC), Mr Makhtar Diop sat down with The Citizen Managing Editor Mr Mpoki Thomson for an insightful Q&A on the institution’s plans to scale up investments in Tanzania after meeting with Tanzania President Hassan and Finance Minister Mwigulu Nchemba in Dodoma. Excerpts...

The first message is that we (IFC) are here to stay. Our discussions with Madam President (Samia Suluhu Hassan)were extremely fruitful. We focused on the major sectors that need to be improved to keep Tanzania on the development path. Tanzania has been resilient during Covid; the economy is doing well, the deficit has been contained, inflation is under five percent, and a debt which is not too high. We are in a situation where there are good macro-economic conditions for the private sector. So we discussed a number of issues on how to improve the business climate so that we can attract more investors by looking at specific sectors, for example, we talked about the health sector, transportation, blue economy, and how to have inclusive growth by increasing financing for women, particularly those working in the small and medium enterprises.