TAARIFA YA MAENDELEO YA UJENZI WA VITUO VYA UTOAJI WA HUDUMA KWA PAMOJA MIPAKANI (ONE -STOP BOARDER POSTS)

Msururu wa magari katika mpaka wa Tunduma, Mbeya. Hali hii inaashiria mahitaji makubwa ya kuwepo kwa huduma ya pamoja mpakani (One-Stop Boarder Post) ili kuondoa adha kwa wafanyabiashara wa usafirishaji.

 

Mkuu wa Kitengo cha Mawasiliano Serikalini kutoka Wizara ya Ushirikiano wa Afrika Mashariki Bi. Vedastina Justinian (kati kati) akizungumza na waandishi jana jijini Dar es Salaam kuhusu mradi wa Vituo vya Utoaji Huduma kwa Pamoja Mipakani (One-Stop Boarder Posts) unaolenga kurahisisha taratibu za huduma za forodha, uhamiaji, usimamizi wa ubora wa bidhaa, ulinzi na usalama.

Mradi wa Vituo vya utoaji wa Huduma kwa Pamoja Mipakani (One-Stop Boarder Posts) unatarajiwa kurahisisha huduma mbali mbali zitolewazo mipakani ambazo ni kama vile forodha, uhamiaji, usimamizi wa ubora wa bidhaa, na ulinzi na usalama na kuzitoa upande mmoja tu wa mpaka kwa pamoja. Mradi huu umekwishakamilika kwa baadhi ya mipaka hapa nchini kama vile Holili, Mutukula na Sirari. Ujenzi wa Vituo vingine kama vile Namanga, Horohoro na Rusumo uko katika hatua za mwisho. Baada ya hapo Mradi huu utaendelea katika maendeleo mengine ya Mipaka kama vile Tunduma.

shilling exchange rate as per 14 April 2014

 Tanzanian Shilling Exchange Rate

in TZS
Australian Dollar	1531
Swiss Franc	1859
Euro	2258
British Pound	2729
Hong Kong Dollar	210
Japanese Yen	16.1
American Dollar	1631
14 Apr 14

  For 2014, one Dollar has equalled 
 average: 1,622.212
   minimum: 1,583.500
maximum: 1,641.500

MATUKIO YA WIKI

 WAFANYABISHARA WAVUNJIWA VIBANDA VYAO VYA BIASHARA

Wafanyabiashara wadogowadogo jijini Mbeya waliokuwa wakifanya biashara zao pembezoni mwa barabara katika maeneo tofauti tofauti wamevunjiwa vibanda vyao usiku wa tarehe 11 April 2014.

Hatua hiyo imefikiwa baada ya wafanyabiashara hao kukiuka agizo la manispaa lililokuwa likiwataka wafanyabiashara hao kuondoka katika maeneo hayo na kwenda kufanyia biashara zao katika maeneo maalum waliyotengewa na manispaa.

Hata hivyo, wafanyabiashara hao wamesema, sababu ya wao kutokwenda katika maeneo hayo ni kutokana na udogo wa eneo ikilinganishwa na idadi yao.

 " tatizo manispaa wametuambia tuhamie katika eneo ambalo ni dogo, ukiangalia sisi ni wengi sana na ukiangalia eneo wanalotuambia twende ni dogo, sasa tutafanyaje" mmoja wa wafanyabiashara hao aliyejitambulisha kwa jina moja la Tumaini aliksikika akiongea.

Baadhi ya vibanda vililyovunjwa

Aidha, baadhi ya wafanyabiashara hao walisikika wakisema kuwa eneo wanaloambiwa wahamie si la serikali na kwamba eneo hilo ni la SIDO, hivyo wao hawatakiwi kuwepo hapo.

Eneo lingine walilotengewa wafanyabiashara hao ni Nanenane, lakini wafanyabiashara hao wamesema kuwa eneo hilo licha ya kuwa si sehemu nzuri kwa biashara kwa maana ya kwamba lipo sehemu isiyokuwa na mzunguko mkubwa wa watu  pia halijaandaliwa vizuri kwa ajili ya wao kufanyia biashara.

Hata hivyo, hatma ya wafanyabiashara hao itaamuliwa siku ya jumatatu tarehe 14 April 2014 watakapo kaa kikao na mamlaka husika.

TIGO PESA YAUNGANISHWA NA BENKI 17

Kampuni ya mawasiliano ya simu za mikononi ya TIGO kupitia huduma yake ya TIGO PESA, imeanza kushirikiana na benki 17 nchini katika kutuma na kupokea pesa. katika huduma hiyo mteja anaweza kutuma pesa kutoka kwenye simu yake ya mkononi kwenda kweye akaunti ya benki, na pia kupokea pesa kutoka kwenye akaunti ya benki kwenda kwenye simu yake ya mkononi.

 Bwana Andrew Hodgson mkuu wa huduma za kifedha wa tigo amesema kuwa, huduma hiyo iliyozinduliwa inatarajia kutimiza malengo ya kuwapatia wateja maisha ya kidigitali kwa kupata huduma za kibenki kutoka sehemu yoyote walipo kupitia simu zao za mikononi.

 Aidha, kupitia huduma hii, wateja watapata usalama wa pesa zao ikiwa ni sambamba na kuepuka kutembea umbali mrefu kutafuta huduma za kuweka na kupokea pesa.

mkuu wa huduma za kifedha za tigo ndugu Andrew Hodgson (kushoto) na msemaji wa tigo ndugu  John Mnyanja katika uzinduzi wa huduma hiyo

CTI INTRODUCES PROGRAMME TO BRIDGE SMES AND LARGE FIRMS

CTI Director of Policy & Advocacy, Mr. Hussein Kamote

The Confederation of Tanzania Industries (CTI) has introduced a business link programme envisioned to create a network between small and the large scale industries in a move to support Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs). The CTI Director of Policy and Advocacy Hussein Kamote said this week that the networking programme is likely to boost the growth of small industries and increase their production levels.

He said through the programme, small entrepreneurs will have access to markets in larger industries and acquire production knowledge to improve the quality of their goods.

“The link we have established will help connect large and small firms and enable them to exchange products as well as technical knowhow,” noted Kamote. He said there are so many small entrepreneurs producing quality products but suffer limited market penetration.

The industrial sector is crucial for the country’s economic growth. The contribution of the industrial sector to the overall GDP of the country has averaged 8% over the last decade, however activities within the sector have been registering an annual growth of over 4% and the sector is currently the third most important to the Tanzania economy behind agriculture and tourism.

According to Kamote, Tanzania lacks high level processing factories due to various factors including lack of modern technological machines and unreliable power supply, high interest rates on borrowing.

All these negative factors pose grave challenges to small companies noting for example that the interest rates on borrowing from banks ranges between 18 and 25 percent, amounts he said are just too high for SMEs.

Exim Bank Hits Sh20 Billion Profit Mark

EXIM Bank Group, with operations in Tanzania, the Comoros and Djibouti has hit 20bn/- profit mark, the firm's audited financial results for the year ended December 31, 2013 shows.

The results released recently reflect 21 per cent increase in profit from 16.5bn/- reported in 2012. The bank's balance sheet grew by 18 per cent from 967bn/- to cross a 1tri/- mark, after hitting 1.14tri/-, as the country's fifth largest bank in Tanzania.

Customer deposits grew modestly by 11 per cent from 723bn/- to 804bn/- following a strategic decision to focus on low cost deposits. Loan and advances portfolio recorded a growth of 23 per cent from 455bn/- to 559bn/-, with disbursements well diversified to all sectors of the economy.

Further, the increase in value of investments available for sale and business profit resulted to a significant growth of the shareholders' fund by 43 per cent from 109.4bn/- to 157bn/-.

The Exim Bank Chief Finance Officer, Mr Selemani Ponda, said the impressive results and the on-going performance improvement demonstrated potential growth of the Bank.

"Last year we aggressively implemented growth strategies through mobilisation of low cost deposits and operational efficiency that ensured customer satisfaction," said the CFO.

He added, "As a result of these strategies, fee-based income recorded a significant growth of 33 per cent from 22.8bn/- last year to 30.4bn/-."

The International Business demonstrated marked improvement with a strong performance of 26 per cent pretax profit growth year on year of Exim Bank Comoros to 3bn/-, thus contributing 15 per cent to the Group profit.

The other subsidiary, Exim Bank Djibouti which was opened late 2011 showed improved business performance and expects to break-even this year. During the year, net interest income grew by 1 per cent from 45bn/- 45.4bn/-.

Foreign exchange income posted a significant growth at 73 per cent from 4bn/- to 6.9bn/-, while other fees and commission recorded an increase of 24 per cent from 17.7bn/- to 22bn/-.

"We are excited with this trend in our performance reflecting growth in all our business segments. Our total operating income increased by 12 per cent from 67.7bn/- to 75.8bn/-," said Mr Ponda.

As the result of recovery efforts and continued monitoring, the quality of the loan book significant improved during the year, where gross Non-performing assets to total gross loan ratio dropped from 14 per cent to 9 per cent.

As it aspires to offer international standards banking services, the bank scooped overall winner of top customer focused banks in Tanzania out of about 52 banks operating in Tanzania.

The training centre- 'Exim Academy' got ISO certification in an endeavour to manage talents as well as part of staff retention strategy.

EXIM Bank (Tanzania) Limited was established in 1997 and expanded its market by opening subsidiaries in Comoro (2007) and Djibouti (2010), hence become the first local bank to go offshore.

IMPENDING VISIT BY BRITISH INVESTORS HIGHLY WELCOME

By Editor

No country is an island, all on its own. None, however rich or powerful, can stand or develop without assistance or cooperation from outside.

This is the gist of international cooperation. For instance, despite all its wealth, the US imports massive amounts of fuel from the Middle East and coal from Russia. On the other hand, the UK imports bales and bales of cotton from African countries to feed its textile factories. There are countless other examples.

It is no wonder, then, that a number of British investors have expressed interest in coming to Tanzania to scout for investment opportunities.

According to the Tanzania Investment Centre, preference would be in advising the investors to pump their money into the agricultural sector. Surely, this is the right advice for the investors, and we have reasons to say so.

Colonial Britain had a lot of investments in Tanganyika and then Tanzania, especially in agriculture, before we got independence in 1961. For instance, the British investment company then popularly known as Lonrho directed hefty amounts of money into the development of tea estates in the Usambara and southern highlands.

As such, it should not come as much of a surprise if British investors continue with investments left by their parents or grandparents. They could as well venture into the cultivation of cotton to feed textile factories back home – or concentrate on food crops like maize and rice.

While it will be recalled that Tanzania was a world-acclaimed sisal and cotton grower, the abundance of arable land in the country means that the British investors could gainfully engage in the cultivation of various other crops.

It is ironical that Tanzania is blessed with vast tracts of arable land – and places a premium on the development of agriculture – yet there are pockets of intermittent food shortages.

Granted, the weather has not always been very kind, often translating into poor harvests. However, just why can’t we outgrow the decades-old habit of making ourselves be at the mercy of climatic conditions?

The impact of climate change is a global phenomenon, and it would be pointless for any country to shed tears instead of seeking ways to mitigate it. Rather, we need to adopt better and therefore more efficient agricultural methods that promise much better harvests with less toil.

Of course, we need to have the needed financial and other resources to ensure things work according to plan. But doesn’t the much-touted national agricultural initiative known as Kilimo Kwanza adequately discuss the right way forward, including how to go about irrigation more meaningfully than previously, how to develop higher yielding seeds and better types of fertiliser and pesticides?

We agree with TIC that investors ought to extend preferential treatment to agriculture by growing food and cash crops to satisfy domestic demand, while selling the surplus both to countries bordering Tanzania and beyond.

It is not empty rhetoric suggesting that agriculture is the backbone of Tanzania’s social and economic development, and any measures meant to make the sector will always be most welcome.

This is precisely why we believe reports of plans by British investors to explore investment opportunities in Tanzania, especially in agriculture, are cause for hope. 

SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN 9^th April 2014