WORLD BANK TO TRAIN TANZANIA ON BUSINESS IMPROVEMENT

Dodoma, Tanzania

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.