How Tanzania can break the chains of poverty

Dar es Salaam. Tanzania must seriously consider a number of issues if the country is to get itself out of the chains of poverty, an Economics Professor from the Oxford University has recommended.

Speaking during a public seminar on development in Dar es Salaam yesterday, Prof Stefan Dercon, said to develop, Tanzania needs to cultivate and nurture a culture of working with the private sector.

“Tanzania must have a direct link to the private sector on how to develop the economy of the country,” he said during a seminar where he outlined why he authored a book titled: Gambling on Development: Why some countries win, and other lose?”
The country also needs a clear link between its high population and how the same could be used to the advantage of the country’s development efforts.

This comes at a time when official data show that Tanzania’s population has expanded by 16 million in 10 years to 61.7 million.

According to the 2022 Population and Housing Census, there were 59.8 million people in Tanzania mainland and 1.9 million in Zanzibar.

The country’s population stood at 44.9 million in the 2012 census.
The rise in population has ignited debate whereby some quarters believe it makes it difficult for the government to effectively provide it with quality social services while others believe a high population could be an asset as it is the manpower that the country needs in agricultural and industrial production. It also offers a ready market for goods produced the country.

According to Prof Dercon, it was also important for the country to cultivate a culture of cordial relations among key players in politics and government agencies. This, he said, can help a shared commitment to growth and development of Tanzania. According to him, the country should make sure that it has a good link on education and health to maintain the consistency of its development.

“Capitalising on agriculture in Tanzania’s growth plans would help Tanzania to develop especially when it focuses on the value chain. Besides, when developing mega projects it should consider how every individual will benefit from it,” he said.

Currently, the government is implementing a number of mega projects, including the $3 billion (about Sh7 trillion) Julius Nyerere Hydropower Project and the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) line which has already consumed a total of Sh23.3 trillion so far.

Prof Dercon noted that Tanzania has a political stability and a good historical background but that it lacked consistence on the issues of development.

Explaining about other countries with political stability, Mr Dercon stressed that sometimes, policies, good leadership and political stability cannot be the only link to development. This, he said, was because there were also a number of other peaceful countries which lack meaningful economic growth.

“As practitioners, academics, researchers, technical advisors and experts, we will be far more effective, if we understand the politics and the entry points for change, and how our economic policy advice and interventions may affect existing elite bargains, and may embed or change them,” he said.

Prof Jehovaness Aikaeli of the Department of Economics at the University of Dar es Salaam said what makes some countries different from others in terms of development was on how they build the culture of making commitments by working together and agreeing on one thing to develop the country.

According to him, for instance when the state makes a commitment on a certain development project but unfortunately, the leader gets out of the state, the commitment made must progress to maintain the consistency of development.

“Our discussion today has proved that elite bargaining and commitment are essential on how to develop the country unlike, setting up policies that sometimes cannot be followed,” he said.

He argued for the government to have a joint, participatory development when executing development projects by involving people in rural areas and making them see how they are going to benefit.

Economic and Social Research Foundation (ESFR) head, department of governance and capacity development, Mr Danford Sango said Tanzania was on the right track in development but urged for more commitment and create good strategies that can help to improve the livelihoods of people.