Africa-Press – Tanzania. TANZANIA must robustly develop agriculture, industry and services if it is to achieve sustained economic growth and build a strong middle class, according to Minister of State in the President’s Office (Planning and Investment), Professor Kitila Mkumbo.
He was responding to contributions and recommendations from Members of Parliament during debates on the 25-Year Long-Term Perspective Plan (2026/27– 2050/51), the Fourth FiveYear National Development Plan (2026/27–2030/31) and the proposed National Development Plan for the 2026/27 financial year.
Prof Kitila said all recommendations had been taken on board and would be worked upon by the government.
He thanked MPs for identifying challenges and proposing solutions to help the country achieve the targets outlined in Vision 2050.
He said MPs strongly supported the government’s focus on three key sectors: agriculture, with an emphasis on agribusiness; vocational training and technology, with a focus on industrial production; and the services sector, including hospitality, transport, arts and culture, health and religious services.
He said that as the economy grows, Tanzania must vigorously develop agriculture, industry and services, noting that economic growth must translate into the expansion of the middle class to drive industrial production and consumption.
Prof Kitila praised the sixth phase government for making significant progress in agriculture, citing a 324 per cent increase in the agriculture budget from 290bn/- in the 2020/21 financial year, to 1.25tri/- in the current financial year.
He added that irrigation coverage has expanded from 400,000 hectares to 983,466 hectares, with a target of reaching five million hectares by 2030.
He said agriculture remains a long-term priority, which is why CCM cadres have been entrusted to oversee key ministries, including the Ministry of Agriculture, led by Mr Daniel Chongolo and the Ministry of Livestock and Fisheries, headed by Dr Bashiru Ally Kakurwa.
Prof Mkumbo also stressed the importance of decentralisation by D evolution (D by D) in driving development, saying meaningful development cannot be delivered solely from Dodoma but must originate at the local government level.
He argued that issues such as the construction of bus terminals, markets and school toilets should be implemented by councils rather than debated in Parliament, which should instead, focus on major national development agendas, including advanced technologies such as space exploration.
On the role of the private sector, he noted that it already contributes about 70 per cent of total investment, expressing confidence that the longterm plan’s target for privatesector contribution would be achieved.
Regarding major strategic projects highlighted by MPs, including the Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) project in Lindi Region and the Mchuchuma–Liganga project, Prof Mkumbo said they are in their final stages and will soon commence.
He added that the development plans were prepared by local experts with support from international specialists.
According to projections, if Tanzania’s economy continues to grow at the current rate of 5.9 to 6.3 per cent under a “business as usual” approach, GDP will reach 500 billion US dollars by 2050/51.
However, he said adopting a “business unusual” approach could enable the country to achieve a onetrillion-dollar economy by the same period.
He said that achieving these targets will require addressing ten key priorities, including transforming the role of the state from regulator to facilitator, adopting results-based performance management and focusing on a few priority sectors as engines of growth, as proposed by Professor Sospeter Muhongo.
He noted that the plan has identified nine priority sectors and five key drivers. Other priorities include strengthening respect for the rule of law, promoting sectoral focus, and upholding professionalism as well as working professionally and with integrity.
Meanwhile, Minister for Finance, Ambassador Khamis Musa Omar, said the government has received recommendations from the Budget Committee and MPs calling for a reconsideration of the proposal to allocate five per cent from various funds to infrastructure development.
He said the proposal was intended to open up economic opportunities across regions and support the establishment of special economic zones.
He added that the committee’s concern that proposals to increase the 10 per cent of council funds allocated to special groups by an additional five per cent would place a heavy financial burden on local government authorities and would therefore not be feasible was valid.
Such proposals, he said, would only be considered for councils with strong financial capacity.
However, he noted that further studies would be conducted to enable all councils to address horizontal fiscal imbalances, after which guidelines would be issued.
Ambassador Omar also said the government will continue strengthening the Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA), particularly its systems and technology, noting that since its establishment 30 years ago, TRA currently operates 21 systems.
On proposals to allow banks to obtain external loans under Section 13(a), he said the government has received the recommendations with caution.
He said that the law has already enabled the Tanzania Agricultural Development Bank (TADB) to secure 500bn/- in financing from the African Development Bank and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)
Source: Daily News – Tanzania Standard Newspapers
