The government of Tanzania has
invited World Bank experts so they can train officials involved in the
improvement of business environment as East Africa’s second largest economy
seeks to improve its standing in the ease of doing business.
The Minister of State for Investment, Angellah
Kairuki, told the Parliament on today, June 21, 2019 that the government was
doing everything possible to boost Tanzania’s standing in World Bank’s Ease of
Doing Business reports.
The annual reports which measure the performance of
countries in 11 factors that affect businesses command respect among
international investors who use them in making investment decisions.
“I want to assure the parliament and Tanzanians in
general that our country’s standing in Doing Business reports will improve. We
have invited experts from the World Bank so they can train our focal points and
what they are required to do to improve the business environment. We did it in
the year 2006 and in 2007, we improved significantly,” Ms Kairuki told the
Parliament.
She said during the past few days, she had held
discussions with World Bank officials in Dar es Salaam and Washington DC and
discussed the topic comprehensively.
Ms Kairuki was responding to a question from Rukia
Ahmed (Chadema) which was asked on her behalf by the opposition chief whip, Mr Joseph
Selasini (Rombo).
In her key question, Ms Ahmed wanted to know when
will the government remove obstacles to doing business and attract local and
international investors.
According to Ms Kairuki, though the government has
undertaken a number of reforms in its 2019/20 budget, they will not have an
impact in this year’s World Bank Report because the deadline for reforms to be
tracked and accommodated in a particular year’s report is May.
“So we expect that the reforms that we have made
this time will feature in the report that will be availed next year and in
2021. We remain hopeful that we will improve significantly,” she said.
Responding to Ms Ahmed’s question, the Deputy
Minister for Education, Science and Technology, William Ole Nasha said the
government was undertaking several reforms in line with the Blueprint for
regulatory reforms to improve the business environment in Tanzania which was
approved by the cabinet during the 2017/18 financial year.
He said in line with the Blueprint, the government
has scrapped a total of 114 fees and charges from those payable to operators in
the agriculture and livestock sectors.
Tanzania’s ranking in the World Bank’s Ease of
Doing reports has been unsatisfactory during the past few years.
Last year, the country performed poorly in cross-border
trade, scoring 20.21/100, followed by resolving insolvency at 39.04/100 and
protecting minority investors in which it scored 45/100.
The country moved 7 positions down, from 137 in
2017 to 144 in 2018. The WB measures the regulations of 190 countries affecting
key areas of the life of a business,
including getting electricity, getting credit, starting a business, dealing
with construction permits, registering property, protecting minority investors,
paying taxes, trading across borders, enforcing contracts and resolving
insolvency and labor market regulation.
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