Samia says Kigoma slowly turning into a strategic region

Dar es Salaam. President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s administration wants to turn Kigoma into a strategic region from its current periphery status.
The strategic status will be achieved through the ongoing infrastructure, energy and social service projects that would open up the region to trading with its neighbours.
Apart from Kagera, Geita, Katavi and Tabora in Tanzania, Kigoma also shares the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo and Burundi.
Speaking during an event to officially switch off the diesel-powered electricity generators, connecting the region with the national grid, President Hassan said the improvement in energy and infrastructure would significantly contribute to the growth of the region’s economy.
Reliable electricity would stimulate industrial production and improve the delivery of social services such as health and education.
“With reliable power, it will directly improve household wellbeing. It will also simulate economic activities in Kigoma and the neighbouring countries,” President Hassan said.
The fuel-powered generators, said President Hassan, would be kept for use during emergency power disruptions.
According to the Energy minister January Makamba, by connecting Kigoma to the national grid, Tanzania Electric Supply Company Limited (Tanesco) will be saving Sh38 billion per year.
He said the power utility firm used to spend Sh52 billion each year to produce electricity for Kigoma but earned only about Sh14 billion in revenues annually.
“In Kasulu District for instance, the government used to spend over Sh14 billion and in return collect just Sh4 billion. This means we were losing  Sh10 billion each year in Kasulu alone,” the minister said, noting that the connection will also resolve the challenges of power outages.
In her resolve to turn Kigoma into a strategic region, President Hassan has also launched a 260.6-kilometre road linking Kabingo-Kasulu-Manyovu, and a 50-kilometre road from Kabingo to Nyakanazi.
“It is also in my knowledge that the government has placed Kigoma on the plan to be part of the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) network,” she said.
The President has also promised that within one week, the government will have resolved the issue of access to subsidised fertilizers in the region. The president’s promise on the aspect was based on a plea by the Kasulu Urban Member of Parliament, Prof Joyce Ndalichako (CCM) who said access to subsidised fertilizer was a serious challenge in the area due to the limited number of agents.
“There are only about 8,000 farmers who have been registered so far. However, they are yet to receive identification numbers, which means that they cannot buy fertilizer at all,” stated Prof Ndalichako who doubles as the Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office (Labour, Youth, Employment and Persons with Disability).
On the education front, the Minister for Education Prof Adolf Mkenda said the government has set aside Sh100 billion in the current fiscal year to establish vocational institutions countrywide and Kigoma will be one of the beneficiary regions, where institutions will be established at Kigoma DC, Kakonko and Kibondo districts.
Through the Higher Education for Economic Transformation (HEET) project, he said Kigoma is also expected to get a campus for the Muhimbili University of Health and Allied Sciences (Muhas).
Analysts say the projects offer a huge boost to the economy of the region. “The region will be a connecting point for the land-locked countries of the DRC and Burundi to access Tanzania’s ports due to the improved infrastructures,” said Economics professor, Humphrey Moshi.
He said reliable power will ease the cost of doing business and open up more investment opportunities in the country and our neighbours. Senior consultant and economist Prof Samuel Wangwe said the good networks of transport and communication will play a key factor in boosting Kigoma’s economic landscape which has a strategic geographical position.