Tanzania country senior partner for PricewaterhouseCoopers David Tarimo said the foreign investment in Tanzania has dropped in this year as compared to past years.
The World Bank’s ease of doing business index currently ranks Tanzania as 144 out of 190 economies, losing seven positions compared to the previous report.
He made the statement on Tuesday in Dar es Salaam during the dinner meeting to discuss Tanzania’s economic growth prospects that were organised by the CEO Roundtable.
Tarimo added that despite the fact that Tanzania economy has grown by 7 per cent with agriculture and construction sector taking the lead in the economy, the foreign investment has decreased.
He said that the main reason for the decrease of the investment in the country is that investors fear about stability policy as most of them don’t have the assurance of the stability of economic policy in the country.
According to the African Development Bank’s (AfDB), Tanzania has been slipping for the past few years with the current positioning down several points from 137 in 2018 and 125 in 2010.
“The decrease in the investment has not only occurred in Tanzania but the entire East Africa region,” he said.
Themed; ‘Tanzania’s Economic Growth Prospects’ the meeting that brought on board senior official from African Development Bank (AfDB), government leaders, CEOs from the financial institutions and directors, presents an opportunity to analyse Tanzania’s economic performance and the role of the government, private sector and development partners in supporting Tanzania’s socio-economic development goals.
Tarimo proposed the best way to ensure that foreign investment goes up is by engaging the private sectors in the effective and regular dialogue in order to chart the best approach for facilitating investment in the country.
He applauded the recent government’s efforts to have an audience with the business community on how to facilitate business and investment environment in the country, the move needs to be sustainable.
The industry and trade minister Innocent Bashungwa assured members of the CEOrt that the ministry is working on the Blueprint implementation plan as a priority and that the government remains committed to ensuring a conducive business and investment climate through a predictable policy environment.
He added that the government is evaluating Tanzania’s position before ratifying the agreement. Tanzania is also working on creating a platform for businesses to invest in Tanzania making it a production hub for the economic-blocs market.
Bashungwa requested members of the CEOrt to contribute to devising strategies to boost investor confidence for increased investment in infrastructure along the Agricultural value chain to help reduce post-harvest losses.
For his part chairman for CEO Round table of Tanzania Sanjay Rughani said the meeting focused on discussing the current state of the economy in the country.
“We have seen a lot of development in the recent years of the fifth phase government, though the development has been contributed by few major sectors including transportation, digital, logistics and production sectors,” he said.
Rughani who is also the CEO for Standard Chartered Bank Tanzania said the private sector will be confident to invest in a country where the economic policy is stable and it provides a friendly environment for business operation.
“The private sector under the umbrella of CEO together with the government needs to put together ideas and recommendations for improving ways of lifting the FDI in the country,” he explained.
Source: The Guardian