by Guo Chunju

DAR ES SALAAM, (Xinhua) — The East African Community (EAC) is looking forward to reinforce trade, investment and various relations with China, which is seen as a more serious economic partner with the total acceptance of market, EAC Secretary General Juma Mwapachu said here on Wednesday.

In an exclusive interview with Xinhua on the sidelines of the 11th annual East African Power Industry Convention, Mwapachu said that the region is ready to work with China for development as the international financial crisis developed negative effects to the world economy.

“Market is the key driver of development,” the secretary general noted, hailing China’s reform and opening policy constructed by then Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping and adopted in 1978 in China.

“Most of China’s investment in the region focus on mineral resources, like copper, as well as infrastructure including roads. China has rich experience in developing energy sectors and east Africa has the potential for investment to develop energy, ” said the Mwapachu, who was former Tanzanian Ambassador to France and with a wide-ranging career in the public and private sectors in the east African country.

The 64-year-old experienced diplomat noted that gas reserves was detected in Rwanda and the region expects cooperation with China in the sectors of developing geothermal, wind and solar power.

He also expressed hope to make better use of the China-Africa Fund through the energetic regional body of EAC.

The secretary general further sent his warmest congratulation on the upcoming 60th founding anniversary of China on Oct. 1st this year.

On the integration process of the East Africa, Mwapachu noted that everything goes smoothly as the EAC is celebrating its 10th anniversary and the heads of states of its five members, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi, are expected to sign the EAC Common Market Protocol in November this year.

Under the theme “Pooling Resources for African Development”, the three-day 11th annual East African Power Industry Convention, which began on Tuesday with pre-conference round table sessions, attracted more than 280 delegates from nearly 20 countries to address pertinent issues on infrastructural requirements to support national development programs.

by Guo Chunju

DAR ES SALAAM, (Xinhua) — China’s rapid social and economic development gives Africa hope, a senior Tanzanian media official said on Thursday.

In an exclusive interview here with Xinhua, Tanzanian Broadcasting Corporation (TBC) Director General Tido Mhando highlighted China’s great achievements in the past 60 years since the foundation of the People’s Republic of China.

“China’s rapid development shows how much can be achieved if we African countries do the same as China has done, with the help of China, it gives Africa hope,” Mhando noted.

He expressed his congratulation to the 60th founding anniversary of China which is upcoming on Oct. 1 this year.

The director general also described the cooperation between Africa and China as “growing to a proportion unbelievable”, not the same when only a few African countries keep close relations to China from the very beginning.

China’s development has provided the third-world countries with a new alternative to establish cooperation as China opens market, he added.

On China’s financial assistance to Africa countries with no strings attached, Mhando noted that this serves as a mutual-benefit cooperation between Africa and China, which is also commercially oriented.

Africa has business interests to China, while China is also a huge and enormous market for African countries, which expect to penetrate the Chinese market with a faster growing speed, according to Mhando.

On China’s progress in information releasing sectors, Mhando noted that China is releasing information openly, which is quite a step forward and “something positive as a move from one of the most populous country” in the world.

It is very helpful for people around the world to know more about China with the population of more than 1.3 billion, he added, hailing Chinese media’s update and transparent report on last year’s major earthquake in southwestern China and the 2008 Beijing Olympics among other big news events.

On the upcoming World Media Summit initiated by Xinhua, Mhando termed the Summit as “a platform” for world media high-levels to meet, discuss and find ways to develop media of countries for mutual benefit.

“Let’s put our heads together to solve out the problems,” he noted, expressing his interest to strengthen cooperation between TBC and the Chinese media.

Since 2007, the state owned television station and Radio Tanzania are now both under the umbrella of Tanzania Broadcasting Corporation, a state-run media which got the new name from Tanzania Broadcasting Services in March 2008.

by Guo Chunju

DAR ES SALAAM,  (Xinhua) — “I expect my trip to China and see the lovely people there and many many magnificent things, including the Great Wall and the Forbidden City among others, ” the 24-year-old Sophia told Xinhua on Saturday evening.

At the seeing-off party for a delegation of 50 Tanzanian youth delegates hosted by the Chinese embassy to Tanzania, Sophia, a third-year student leader from the Open University of Tanzania talked about her upcoming journey with an expression of excitedness.

As the visit will be the first time for her to go to China, Sophia noted that she expects the trip will enrich her knowledge about China, which is now the third largest economy in the world, especially at the moment that the 60th founding anniversary of China is coming near.

Mentioning the great economic progress in China in the past years, Sophia said more and more Chinese products are sold abroad, “I have a Chinese TV set, and I also bought Chinese trousers “.

She added that she would like to buy a mobile phone and some beautiful clothes during the upcoming trip to China.

Delivering a speech, LP.R. Musaroche, Director of Secondary Education and Acting Commissioner for Education and head of the delegation, said that Tanzania and China have a long and old history of diplomatic relations, and that the volume of trade and investment, as well as people-to-people exchanges are increasing.

The trip to China would be an opportunity to Tanzanian youths to witness and learn high level of your development in various fields including education, technology, industry, trade, sports and culture among others, he noted.

“It is expected that they will also be able to share new ideas from your country,” Musaroche added, expressing his hope that the trip to be fruitful to strengthen the traditional friendship and enhance cooperation between the two countries.

In his remarks, Fu Jijun, Charge d’affaires of the Chinese Embassy to Tanzania, expressed his belief that the trip will help extend Tanzanian youths’ understanding of Chinese history and culture, expecting the delegates to become “young ambassadors” in promoting China-Tanzania friendly relations and cooperation.

He also hoped that the two members of the delegation from Tanzanian media to cover a truly China for Tanzanian people.

Invited by Chinese President Hu Jintao during his state visit to Tanzania in February, the delegation of 50 Tanzanian youths from various sectors is due to leave on Sunday for starting an eight-day visit to three Chinese cities.

At the signing ceremony, Blandina Nyoni, permanent secretary of the Tanzanian Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, praised China as a long-term partner for supporting the country’s medical service since 1968. “China assisted Tanzania with medical equipment and training as well as the treatment of HIV/AIDS patients via traditional Chinese medicine,” she was quoted by Xinhua as saying, adding the Tanzanian people will benefit from the project as they will no longer need to go abroad to receive the surgery in the future. China has been showing its enormous interest in doing business in Africa in recent years, with obsession especially in energy, manufacturing and construction. China’s top construction companies, including Beijing-based China State Construction Engineering Corp and Shanghai-based Shanghai Construction Group, have all presented themselves in African countries like Tanzania, Angola and Kenya, for projects like infrastructure construction and real estate development. In June, Lanzhou city-based Gansu Natural Energy Research Institute signed a deal with the Kenyan government to develop solar energy market in the country. However, concerns over ethics are growing with the businesses. For example, the mistreatment from Chinese bosses at the workplace, and the weapons sold to Sudan and Zimbabwe in the past which helped the dictatorship. More details about Sino-Africa relationship are revealed in the new book “China Safari: On the Trail of Beijing’s Expansion in Africa” by two French journalists Serge Michel and Michel Beuret.

(digitaljournal.com)

MANILA (Reuters) - Philippine customs authorities have seized an estimated 3.5 tonnes of elephant tusks from two containers sent from Tanzania, one of the largest such consignments found in the country, officials said on Wednesday.

The consignment arrived in Manila in March and immediately drew suspicion because it was said to contain plastic, said Customs police chief Nestorio Gualberto.

“What kind of plastic materials does Tanzania produce?” he said. “We suspected right away that these were elephant tusks.”

No one came to claim the consignment and there have been no arrests.

Officials said some of the tusks weighed as much as 25 kg each. They valued the consignment at over $2 million, although that appears to be a conservative estimate given that in some countries prices are at or above $1,500 per kg.

While there is an illegal market in the Philippines for religious icons made of ivory, officials suspect the tusks were bound for China, where there is thriving demand.

There, the tusks are mainly manufactured into chopsticks or mahjong chips.

Three years ago, about 6 tonnes of elephant tusks from Zambia were also seized in Manila’s container port

DAR ES SALAAM, TANZANIA - Counterfeit imports worth US$12,000 were destroyed in Dar es Salaam last week.

They were destroyed by the Fair Competition Commission (FCC) at Kinyamwezi rubbish dump after being intercepted at Dar es Salaam Port.

The imports comprised extension cables, radios, oil and air filters and mobile phone accessories. They had been imported by three firms: King Crown Import and Export Limited, Mwanza Iward and Habas Magreth, and Haji Mwajuma Ibrahim.

The destruction was overseen by FCC staff, the police and media personnel.

The FCC Legal Officer, Laiton Mhesa, who supervised the torching of the imports said the three importers were also fined TShs5 million (around $4600) and paid for the cost of destruction in accordance with the Merchant Marks Act of 1963. The importers lost their goods after they had paid import duty as well.

He said the fake imports which originated from China and United Arab Emirates were discovered by the Dar es Salaam Port customs officials who reported the matter to FCC.

He said FCC depends on the Tanzania Revenue Authority and the general public for information that leads to impounding and destruction of fake imports that threaten not only business competitiveness but lives as well.

Mhesa said: “The FCC would like to reiterate its call to merchandise importers to desist from trading in counterfeit products as they stand to face stern legal actions including imprisonment, fine and destruction of their merchandise at their own cost.”

The legal officer said if an importer declines to pay the fine, he is prosecuted and if found guilty is fined between TShs5 million and TShs50 million ($46,000), or a jail term or both.

Mhesa said guilty importers of counterfeits have been fined over TShs300 million ($295,000) todate.

(busiweek.com)

Bananas provide food, wine and beer - and now maybe fuel as well

You’ve heard of “green” fuel. Now get ready for yellow as scientists have found a way to turn banana waste into a sustainable fuel source that could be relevant to many countries across Africa.

Rotting banana skins are mashed into a pulp, then mixed with saw dust

The simple, low-tech idea, was developed by researchers at Nottingham University.

They used banana skins to create briquettes that can be burned for cooking, lighting and heating.

It could alleviate the burden of gathering firewood, the dominant energy source in many parts of the continent.

This would help reduce deforestation, which makes a significant contribution to global climate change.

Go yellow

In some African countries, like Rwanda, bananas are an important and versatile crop, used for food, wine and beer.

But experts estimate that the edible fruit makes up just a small part of what the plant produces.

The banana skins bind other materials together really well, they act like glue Joel Chaney,Nottingham University

According to scientists, for every one tonne of bananas, there are an estimated ten tonnes of waste, made up of skins, leaves and stems.

It was on a visit to Rwanda that Joel Chaney, a PhD student from the University of Nottingham came up with the idea of developing a low-tech approach to turn this banana waste into an efficient fuel source.

Back in the laboratory at the University’s faculty of engineering, Joel showed me how to make bananas burn.

He first mashes a pile of rotting skins and leaves. This pulp is then mixed with saw dust, compressed and dried to create briquettes that ignite readily and throw out a steady heat, ideal for cooking.

“The banana skins bind other materials together really well, they act like glue,” says Mr Chaney.

The banana mixture dries into briquettes which can be burned on a stove

“We can then either form the material into a ball by hand, or use a press to squeeze the materials together and squeeze the liquid out.

“Once we’ve pressed them we can lay the briquettes outside in the sun, and within about two weeks we have some dried fuel.”

The emphasis of the project has been on developing a simple technology that can be used in developing countries without the need for a large financial outlay.

Over the years there have been many attempts to develop new stoves and fuel sources in Africa that have failed because they were too expensive or did not take on board local needs.

These briquettes are made by hand, we haven’t used any mechanical equipment at all Mike Clifford,Nottingham University

Mike Clifford is associate professor in the department of engineering at Nottingham. Standing around a stove in the laboratory that’s using banana briquettes to boil water, he says he is really pleased with the project.

“This is working really well. These briquettes we’ve made by hand, we haven’t used any mechanical equipment at all. No technology and we’ve had a really good result,” he says.

“We’re starting from very basic problems and we are making the solutions as simple and accessible as possible to the people that need them.

“It’s almost seen as a new colonialism, imposing solutions on people in developing countries, we are very keen not to do that.”

Saving firewood

The scientists believe that banana fuel might help reduce dependence on wood as an energy source across Africa.

The briquettes are easily made, no machinery is required

In some of the continent’s biggest banana-producing countries like Rwanda, Tanzania and Burundi, more than 80% of current energy needs are met from burning wood.

This has a very damaging impact on the environment leading to deforestation which contributes to climate change. Gathering wood for fuel is also a time consuming job, mainly done by women.

“In some areas wood fuel is getting depleted and you are getting deforestation. Women sometimes have to walk over six hours a day to get firewood,” says Joel Chaney.

“This is a way to use waste from crops like bananas, to make them burn in a better way because loose residue most often just burns too rapidly.

“Imagine just putting some straw onto your fire at home. It just goes up in flames, you can’t cook food over it, while the briquettes provide a way to cook food in a much better way.”

The Nottingham researchers say their low-tech approach is a small step along the way of meeting the millennium goals and helping people out of poverty.

They say that they are happy to give the idea away for free and are encouraging people who want to use the idea to get in touch.

(Xinhua) — A total of 96 suspects have been detained by local police for involvement in a recent armed robbery that killed one Chinese and wounded another, Chinese diplomats said on Thursday.

The police took swift actions after the bloody robbery occurred late on Tuesday in downtown Dar es Salaam, officials of the Chinese embassy here told Xinhua.

The Chinese was killed and another injured on Tuesday while attending a shop. Three gunmen came by motorcycles and opened fire at them before looting the shop.

Chinese businessmen have planned to stage a street protest against the armed robbers, and appealed to the government to improve investment and business environment.

According to the embassy, several robberies against Chinese businessmen have occurred, some involved firearms.

At a recent interview with Xinhua, Tanzania Investment Center Executive Director Emmanuel Ole Naiko pledged that his institution, as an investment promoter as well as a policy advocate, would ensure better investment and business environment in Tanzania.

A masterful history of the construction and impact of rail power in Africa

“An extremely nuanced and textured history of negotiated interests that includes international stakeholders, local actors, and—importantly—early Chinese policies of development assistance.” —James McCann, Boston University

“Blessedly economical and unpretentious . . . no one else is capable of writing about this region with such nuance.” —James Giblin, University of Iowa

The TAZARA (Tanzania Zambia Railway Authority) or Freedom Railway stretches from Dar es Salaam on the Tanzanian coast to the Copperbelt region of Zambia. The railway, built during the height of the Cold War, was intended to redirect the mineral wealth of the interior away from routes through South Africa and Rhodesia. After being rebuffed by Western donors, newly independent Tanzania and Zambia accepted help from communist China to construct what would become one of Africa’s most vital transportation corridors. Drawing on first-hand experiences of engineers and laborers together with life histories of traders who used the railway, Jamie Monson tracks the railroad from its design and construction to its daily use as a passenger train that provided an important means for moving people and goods from one village to another. This engaging history reveals how transnational interests contributed to environmental change, population movements, the rise of local and regional economic enterprise, and one of the most sweeping development transitions in post-colonial Africa.

Jamie Monson is Professor of History at Carleton College. She is author of Women as Food Producers in Developing Countries.

(ALLAFRICA)

Hai Phong City customs officials have uncovered up to seven tons of elephant tusks smuggled in from Tanzania. Customs officers check on the smuggled tusks in Hai Phong City on Mar. 7 (Photo: SGGP) The tusks were found Friday hidden in around 114 boxes of plastic waste inside a container after being transported from Africa through Malaysia to Vietnam’s northern Hai Phong port. According to Hai Phong police, the owner of the goods is Vu Ngoc Tuan, director of Hai Phong-based Phuc Thien Ngan Ltd. Company, who has run away. Hai Phong customs chief Mai The Huyen said it was likely that the tusks were smuggled in Vietnam for onward movement. It is the country’s biggest seizure ever, according to reports. According to investigators, this container was loaded onto a ship from a Tanzanian port and then transported to a Malaysian port before arriving in Vietnam on a Malaysian-flagged vessel. It is likely that from Hai Phong, the tusks would be transported to China by sea or by road. The customs and other units were checking the tusks in the past two days. They expect to finish counting the number of tusks by the Monday afternoon (Mar. 9). It is estimated that there are almost 500 pairs of tusks in all.

By Van Phuc, translated by Van Thinh

(saigon-gpdaily.com.vn)

By The Citizen Reporter

The immediate chairman of the African Union, President Jakaya Kikwete, has defended African leaders, arguing that they are not responsible for the continent’s backwardness.

He made the remarks at the State House in Dar es Salaam yesterday when he met students from various countries who paid him a courtesy call.

“Development is a process, a very tedious one. You cannot wake up one morning and become a wealthy person just like that,” he said.
The 25 students who visited Mr Kikwete are from Tanzania, German, Kenya, Ethiopia, Mauritius, Uganda and Rwanda.

They are on an exchange programme involving African and German students known as “Go Africa, Go Germany.” The programme has been arranged by the German President, Mr Horst Kohler.

Reacting to a question from one student who wanted to know why Africa was economically, socially and politically deprived, President Kikwete said:
“History has it that all nations have passed through the underdevelopment stage.

There are factors why political situation in Africa is still bad and one reason in colonialisation, which made Africa a source of raw materials and market for commodities produced by rich countries.”

He said together with unbalanced international political system which tend to favour rich nations economically and commercially, these factors have made things much worse for Africa. “It is not possible that the leadership in all 54 African countries is bad or have no ability. You need a justified international economic structure? we have been saying this for years since Uruguay and now at Doha talks.

“What we are saying is that our farmers cannot redeem themselves from the poverty cycle while they are barred from selling their produce at good prices because rich nations are protecting their markets by giving their farmers subsidy,” he said.

He added: “European countries give their farmers subsidy amounting to 365 billion annually. Our farmers cannot compete with them. That is why we are saying that there is a need to change international systems so as to create a level playing field.”

During the talks, President Kikwete also spoke about formation of one African government, a process of uniting East African economies, East Africa land resource and loans to students in higher learning institutions.
On major challenges which faces Tanzania at the moment, President Kikwete said it is poverty.

Elaborating, he pointed out that it is imperative to improve agricultural production as a way of redeeming farmers from poverty.

(thecitizen.co.tz)

DAR ES SALAAM, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) — Chinese President Hu Jintao on Sunday said he reached new consensus with African leaders during his ongoing visit to the continent.

“During my African visit, I had in-depth discussions with leaders of related countries on bilateral relations and issues of common concern, and we reached a number of new and important consensus,” Hu said while giving an interview to Tanzanian State Television and Hong Kong-based Phoenix TV.

Visiting Chinese President Hu Jintao (L) meets with his Tanzanian counterpart Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, Feb. 15, 2009.(Xinhua Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

This is the president’s sixth visit to Africa and his second since the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in 2006.

The four-country African tour has taken Hu to Mali and Senegal. After his stay in Tanzania. Hu will travel on to Mauritius before flying back home on Tuesday.

“The visit is aimed at cementing friendship, deepening cooperation, dealing with challenges and seeking common development,” Hu said.

Visiting Chinese President Hu Jintao (L) meets with his Senegalese counterpart Abdoulaye Wade in Dakar, capital of Senegal, Feb. 13, 2009. (Xinhua/Rao Aimin) Photo Gallery>>>

As a sincere friend of Africa, China will actively support African countries in developing their economies, and improving livelihood and strengthening cooperation, he said.

“China will fully and punctually implement measures agreed at the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, seek China-Africa pragmatic relations and promote the further development of our new strategic partnership,” Hu said.

Eight measures announced at the landmark summit included massive tariff cuts, debt exemptions, and doubling aid to Africa over a three-year period among others.

Chinese President Hu Jintao (L, Front) shakes hands with Malian President Amadou Toumany Toure (R, Front) after signing agreements in Bamako, Mali, on Feb. 12, 2009. (Xinhua/Rao Aimin) Photo Gallery>>>

Hu said he was satisfied with the development of China-Tanzania ties.

Noting Tanzania is an old and good friend of China, Hu said the bilateral relationship has moved forward in a sound and smooth way and yielded fruitful cooperation in various fields since the establishment of bilateral diplomatic ties in 1964.

“It can be viewed as an exemplary relationship of sincerity, solidarity and cooperation between the two developing countries,” Hu said.

In 2008, bilateral trade hit an all-time high, reaching more than 1 billion U.S. dollars, Hu said.

He held talks with Tanzanian President Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete and met Zanzibar President Amani Abeid Karume earlier on Sunday.

Hu said they reviewed the growth of China-Tanzania relations and set a direction for bilateral relations to develop in a new era.

The two sides agreed on cementing traditional friendship, deepening pragmatic cooperation and taking the relations to a new high, Hu said.

“With joint efforts, I am convinced that bilateral relations will have a promising future and benefit the two nations,” Hu said.

Before the interview, Hu attended the completion ceremony of Tanzania’s state stadium and paid tribute to a cemetery for Chinese experts who worked and died in Tanzania. 

Visiting Chinese President Hu Jintao (C, front) and Tanzanian President Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete (R) attend the completion ceremony of the Tanzania National Main Stadium, built by a Chinese contractor with financing from the governments of both Tanzania and China, in Dar Es Salaam, capital of Tanzania, Feb. 15, 2009. (Xinhua/Ju Peng) Photo Gallery>>> (XINHUA)

DAR ES SALAAM, Feb. 11 (Xinhua) — The phrase “a friend in need is a friend indeed” is a handy portrait of the relationship between China and Tanzania during the past half century, says the Chinese ambassador to the African nation.

China was among the first few countries to recognize the independence of Tanganyika in 1961 and Tanzania was among the African countries that made efforts to help return China to the United Nations in 1972, Ambassador Liu Xinsheng said during a lunar New Year celebration with overseas Chinese.

Though China was a long way from welfare itself in the 1960s, it did not hesitate to send doctors and nurses to help with the medical development of the African country. The help first began in the Indian Ocean archipelago of Zanzibar in 1964 and then in the Tanzania mainland starting in 1968, Liu said.

He added that experts on agriculture, construction and mineral also came to the assistance of their Tanzanian counterparts in their respective fields.

Later, tens of thousands of railway workers came to build the 1,860-kilometer Tanzania-Zambia Railway, better known in East Africa as the TAZARA, he said.

Bilateral trade has grown more than 10 fold since the turn of this century, increasing from 93.44 million U.S. dollars in 2001 to over 900 million dollars last year, bringing Tanzania up to 15th among the 60 African economies that trade with China.

Apart from debt write-off programs that have benefited Tanzania, China also continues with aid projects in the country, where a landmark building has been already completed, and another is not far away.

A 60,000-seat new national stadium is hailed as the most modern sports facility of its kind in East Africa.

China will build an international conference center in the capital of Dar es Salaam for conventions and tourism development.

In addition, China has completed a drinking water network in central Tanzania and is training local staff to operate it.

There is lots to do this year to further promote a friendly China-Tanzania relationship, boost economic cooperation and bilateral trade, as well as benefit the Chinese who work and do businesses in Tanzania, the ambassador said.

The Tanzanian people take the Chinese as friends and China will always do the same, he added.

Chinese President Hu Jintao will pay state visits to Saudi Arabia, Mali, Senegal, Tanzania and Mauritius from Feb. 10 to 17.

Hu’s visit is aimed at further consolidating China’s friendship and cooperation with the countries, strengthening China’s cooperation with the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf, and promoting the implementation of the measures announced at the Beijing Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, Chinese Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said.

DAR ES SALAAM, Feb 10 (Reuters) - Tanzania and Zambia are considering privatising a railway they jointly own that hauls the bulk of Zambia’s copper exports to the coast, the leaders of the two African nations said on Tuesday.

The 39-year-old Tazara line was built with Chinese aid and once thrived as a monopoly under the two state-run economies.

But the 1,992 km (1,162 mile) railway has since suffered from poor management, lack of wagons and locomotives, unreliable timetables and problems with track maintenance.

At its peak, it could haul some 2.5 million tonnes of cargo a year, but it currently moves only about a quarter of that. Previous attempts to privatise it have faltered.

Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete told a joint news conference with his Zambian counterpart, Rupiah Banda, in Dar es Salaam that a council of ministers from both nations were studying the issue afresh. He gave no further details.

The two leaders said their governments also planned to rehabilitate a 1,710 km (1,060 mile) crude oil pipeline linking their countries, as well as a single point mooring unit at Dar es Salaam harbour used to receive crude oil tankers.

The jointly owned pipeline was commissioned in 1968 to handle 1.1 million tonnes of crude a year. But old equipment and financial difficulties mean it now carries only 600,000 tonnes. (Reporting by George Obulutsa; Editing by Louise Ireland and Daniel Wallis)

Japan has said its products sold in overseas markets are subjected to stringent inspection procedures and it is next to impossible for counterfeit or substandard goods to leave the country.

The statement comes at a time when Tanzania, through the Fair Competition Commission and several other government agencies, is grappling with a flood of fake and substandard imports.

Yasuhiro Namagasu, Director of Overseas Research Department responsible for the Middle East and Africa Division of Japan`s Trade Organisation (JETRO), said in an exclusive interview with this paper here at the weekend that the Japanese government has tightened rules and procedures businesspersons must follow before exporting anything.

“Fake and substandard export goods have been raising outcries in many parts of the world, especially in Africa, and Japan cannot allow its good name to be tarnished in the world of business and trade,“ he stated.

Namagasu said his country`s economy depended heavily on industrial products for exports, “so we have been doing the most we can to ensure that goods produced meet the required standards without fail“.

The Japanese government supports a national campaign dubbed One Village One Product, he added.

Statistics of exports availed to The Guardian show that Japan, the world`s second largest economy, exported to Tanzania products valued at a total of USD218,444,000 between January and November last year.

The country meanwhile imported from Tanzania
goods valued at USD117,725,000 during the same period.

According to the data, products imported by Japan include foodstuffs like fish, shrimps, lobsters and meat, iron ore and concentrates, wood, textile yarn and fabrics, coffee and tobacco.

Like many other African countries, Tanzania has for years been importing from Japan mainly an assortment of electronic equipment and related products, vehicles and vehicle spare parts.

However, recent years have seen swelling numbers of members of the Tanzanian business community ending up with fake or other substandard electronic gadgets imported, deliberately or otherwise, mainly from China.

The Chinese Embassy in Dar es Salaam has often advised Tanzanian traders to contact bona fide manufacturers or authorised dealers straight whenever planning to import products from China to avoid being duped into paying for counterfeit goods from backyard factories or dishonest agents.

• SOURCE: Guardian

Landlocked Burundi and Rwanda plan to build a 500 km (310 mile) road linking them with neighbouring Tanzania to reduce their overdependence on Kenya’s Mombasa port, a minister said on Tuesday.

The two economies suffered greatly when imports through Mombasa were blocked by political violence in Kenya earlier this year. The port on the Indian Ocean is a main gateway into much of eastern Africa.

“This project is of great importance to our economies. The road will largely reduce the cost of our imported merchandise,” Burundi Finance Minister Clotilde Nizigama told reporters, adding that it would also ease the coffee grower’s exports.

“We hope our partners in development are going to respond positively to our request.”

The road is budgeted to cost $688 million and take four years to complete. The two countries have a $100-million grant from the African Development Bank and are seeking the rest from the World Bank, European Union, China and Saudi Arabia.

The two central African nations have also begun a $4 billion project to build a 691 km (430 mile) rail line to connect them to Tanzania. It is expected to be operational by 2012.

(engineeringnews)

“When you release the energy of our people, this continent will be unstoppable,” said Former Tanzanian Prime Minister and one-time OAU Secretary General Salim Salim.

Salim’s illustrious diplomatic career thrust him into the centre of Africa’s immediate post independence diplomacy at the height of the Cold War in his twenties. He did the continent proud, writes OKELLO OCULI, a former diplomat and Prime Minister of Tanzania, during an interview last month in Nairobi.

Describing himself as an “optimist about Africa”, the former Tanzanian Prime Minister and OAU Secretary General Salim illustrates his point by citing an incident he regards as routine: “When you fly Ethiopian Airlines and the Nigerian woman trader is being assertive and firm, that is Africa,” he says.

“Africa has been underestimated,” he insists.

For a continent that has suffered from the ravages of slavery, colonial barbarism, poverty, and misuse of authority by its rulers since independence, Africa is a source of great optimism.

“Witness the resilience and vibrancy of our people,” he says adding that “historic injuries have happened but our people are still dynamic.”
Salim recalls starting his diplomatic career at the tender age of 23 as Zanzibar’s and (after the 1964 Union of Zanzibar and Tanganyika), Tanzania’s ambassador to Egypt whose capital Cairo, during Gamal Nasser’s rule, had turned into a Mecca for liberation movements.

As the hub of anti-colonial activity, Cairo gave sanctuary to the Movement for the Popular Liberation of Angola (MPLA), Party for the Independence of Guinea and Cape Verde (PAIGC), the South West African Peoples Organisation (SWAPO), the Zimbabwe African Peoples Union (ZAPU), the Uganda National Congress, the Kenya African National Union (KANU) and others. Seeing Egypt as the northern gateway to Africa, Nasser cast his eyes down and across the Nile — on whose waters a civilisation built by the black African Pharaohs before him had flourished — and resolved to contribute to the end of European colonisation of the continent.

Salim recalls some hilarious incidents in his diplomatic career. When Mwalimu Nyerere came on a State visit, for example, he was taken to see Luxor, a city in central Egypt on the east bank of the Nile that is a centre for visitors to the ruins of and about Thebes.
Nyerere’s ambassador was no where to be seen. “It was a scandal!” recalls Salim. That is not the end of the story. Salim did a repeat performance by showing up late to a state banquet. “I was a bit late; the Heads of State were already seated.”

On arrival the police mistook him for a Head of State and put outriders ahead of his car that was flying the Tanzanian flag. What saved the situation for him, Salim adds, was his president.

“Nyerere knew this was part of the training I was going through as a 23- year-old ambassador.”

Salim notes that from Nasser, newly out of Egypt’s post-double colonisation by Britain and France, Ben Bella emerging from Algeria’s bloody revolution through Mwalimu Nyerere as an emerging host of the liberation movements in southern Africa, Africa had “leaders who thought more in terms of their countries and the continent’s liberation.

Cairo was a learning experience for Salim who knew very little about Egypt. When he was transferred to India, he resolved to correct that error. Not only did he do his undergraduate studies as an external student with “good professors” from the University of Delhi. He also travelled, eager to know everything about the country.

“I travelled by car, by train, by air all over India. It was a remarkable training”.

He go travel anywhere without giving notice to Indian officials. He recalls going to Mrs Indira Gandhi (as information minister) and complaining to her about the bad press that Africa was getting in the Indian mass media to which Mrs Gandhi retorted:” My dear High Commissioner, let me tell you something: These papers criticise me too! But meet them; know them!”

He followed her advice and with access to more and accurate information about African events, the Indian press began to report Africa in more favourable light and more useful insight and criticism.

In New York, diplomacy presented new challenges and opportunities for Salim. He would work with a crop of other diplomats from Senegal, Nigeria, Guinea, Ethiopia and North Africa to whom “the divisive notion of Arabphone, Francophone or Commonwealth Africa “was never an issue”.

Instead says Salim, “we considered ourselves as Africans; we had obligation not only to talk for our countries but for Africa”.

In that spirit, the President of the Council for Namibia at the United Nations was the Zambian ambassador while Nigeria headed the Anti-Apartheid Committee. With China demonstrating its total support for liberation of Africa, including building the Tazara Railway line from Dar es Salaam to Lusaka, African diplomats took it upon themselves the task of restoring China’s membership of the United Nations.
Salim recalls the drama of this event with much animation mixed with deep courtesy for Ambassador George Bush (Snr), who he described as a “very decent man”. They knew that Henry Kissinger, the legendary Secretary of State in 70s, was making secret trips to China through Pakistan, and therefore “didn’t have to apologise” for their initiative and brought up the matter for a vote under a procedural rule known as “responsibility for the unexpected”.

Ambassador Bush Snr stood up to ask for an amendment of the motion when the process of voting had already begun.

Salim intervened and demanded that the President of the General Assembly rule that Ambassador Bush “was completely, utterly and resolutely out of order”. After a brief hesitation, the President of the General Assembly, and Vice-President of Indonesia ruled that “the Representative of the United States was out of Order”. As he recalls it, the ruling was followed by “an acclamation” and then “there was pandemonium”.

Salim attributes their victory to the fact that they were more organised than the supporters of the United States whom they took by surprise.
The African diplomats had to speed up their motion after learning that some Caribbean heads of state were under tremendous pressure from the US and could easily break ranks with the Africans. Time was of essence.

Revisiting the subsequent American complaint that the Tanzanian representative danced in celebration of their victory, Salim retorts that: “Yes we danced! The only thing we regret is that we did not bring our drums!”

In contrast to hate-mail that he received from irate Americans (including slur like, “You African monkey, go to the jungle”), Salim says “I received a message of commendation from my leader.”

It was a tale of diplomatic triumph that was anchored on African unity. The Americans would later take their revenge by blocking Salim Salem’s election as the first African Secretary General of the United Nations when he defeated the incumbent Kurt Waldheim from Austria. to which Salim retorts: “I have no regrets for what I did. I am very proud of having had the opportunity to serve Africa”.
(nation)

By Juma Kwayera

Tanzania is content to willow among the minnows. Its vision of the future since independence is undeniably blurred by a leadership that prides in permanently preening itself amid economic and social chaos.

Endowed with a vast pool of middle level workforce, the drivers of Tanzania politics show no enthusiasm in hoisting the hoi polloi out of the current economic stagnation.

Dar es Salaam asked last month for a revision of the East African Community (EAC) treaty to curtail unrestricted movement of people, goods and services as was envisaged in the regional political and economic integration process.

Ironically, the change of heart, informed more by political paranoia than sound economic judgement, comes at a time when intra-regional trade is expanding despite the non-tariff barriers the business community blames for escalating the cost of doing business.

The reasons why East Africa’s largest country is backtracking on initial commitments made in 1999 — when the bloc acquired a much stronger and definite form — are understandable, although they offer no mitigation. The dominant theme takes the form that the country has not consolidated its economic potential to stave off competition from Kenya and Uganda extroverts.

Missteps

That is partly the fear that goaded Tanzania into bolting from the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (Comesa) in favour of the Southern African Development Community (Sadc). Ever since, the private sector has often called for Tanzania’s return to Comesa bloc with a population of more than 400 million. Sadc on the other hand has a market of less than 180 million people.

However, data accrued by various agencies, among them the Tanzania Investment Centre (TIC), the Tanzania National Business Council (TNBC), the Tanzania Private Sector Foundation (TPSF) and Tanzania Chamber of Commerce Industry and Agriculture (TCCIA) suggest tahat Dar’s bid for economic takeoff is undermined by a series of missteps.

TNBC and TPSF say Tanzania earns approximately $30 million per annum in trade with the Sadc bloc down from over $180 million per annum it fetched from exports to the Comesa bloc.

Last year, the TIC Executive Director Emanuel ole Naiko inadvertently reminded his countrymen Kenya was the second leading investor in Tanzania with 249 projects valued $958.21 million that had created 37,511 jobs. These figures are a significant improvement on the previous year’s, which put Kenyan investments in Tanzania at $700 million.

Since the implementation of the EAC Customs Union, intra-regional economic activity has been peaking — a development that saw Kenya overtake the US and South Africa as a leading foreign investor in Tanzania. United Kingdom investments in Tanzania climbed to $1,115 million with at least 232,030 jobs.

EAC objectives

South Africa, arguably Africa’s biggest economy, is fourth in terms of investment value and the fifth in terms of projects, according to TIC. Its total investment value is $466.58 million on 111 projects that employ 14,243 people. Kenyan investments are tourism, agriculture, manufacturing, transportation and banking.

In Uganda, Kenya has overtaken the UK and the US as its main trading partner. The symbiosis between the Kenya and Uganda economies manifests further in the arterial transport and aviation. This explains in part why Rwanda, its bloody history and territorial disadvantage notwithstanding, is investing heavily in human skills that would place at par with Kenya and Uganda. Business between the two neighbours is in the region of $2 billion, although the balance of trade is skewed in favour of the former.

In the past four years, Rwanda has shedded its linguistic affiliation to France and embraced English, which in itself is a significant statement about the direction the tiny central African nation wants to go. Rwanda was the first country in East African nation to waiver work permit requirements for nationals of any of the four EAC fellow member states. This was hardly a year after it was admitted into the bloc alongside Burundi.

During an EAC, Comesa and Sadc tripartite summit in Kampala on October 22 attended by leaders from the three blocs agreed to harmonise trade arrangements among the three regional economic communities, free movement of businesspersons and joint implementation of inter-regional infrastructure programmes, among other things. The resolutions fall within the broad objectives of the EAC treaty. Uganda President Yoweri Museveni has advised Dar to quit the bloc instead of frustrating it. Kenya, Rwanda and Burundi should summon courage and support Museveni.
(africanewsonline)

China has donated Information and Communication Technology (ICT) facilities to the Ministry of Home Affairs worth 1.5million US dollars (about 1.8bn/-). The assistance, said to be the biggest support of its kind from the Chinese people, is intended to enhance the ministry’s plans to go high-tech.

The ministry’s Deputy Minister, Ambassador Khamis Kagasheki, said this in Dar es Salaam yesterday after a brief meeting between the ministry’s staff and China’s Deputy Minister for Public Security, Mr Cai Anji who is in the country for official visit. He said the donation, which was handed over to the ministry by Mr Anji, includes 50 new desktop computers, 30 laptops, scanners and digital cameras.

The minister further said that Mr Anji’s tour to the country was yet another move to demonstrate that the two countries were in good relations. He said that though China and Tanzania were both developing countries, China was better-off and projected to be at the pick of the world’s powerful countries in the world by 2025 and therefore the government felt prouder for its mutual relations.

Meanwhile, the visiting Chinese deputy minister commended the bilateral relations between Tanzania and China which started back in the 1960s for its ability to survive the test of time despite the changes the world has gone through. He said that numerous state tours made by the high ranked leaders of both countries were an indication of a continuing mutual understanding between the two countries.

(habarileo)