Africa-Press – Tanzania. PRESIDENT Samia Suluhu Hassan has implored the private sector in the country to grasp opportunities presented by the FIFA World Cup 2022 in Qatar.
The Head of State said, while some football fans from around the world are certainly in for a treat, there are also some promising signs for businesses in the country because big sports events bring in massive economic impact.
Ms Samia said the private sector, government and other stakeholders should come together and find the best way to utilise what she described as a golden opportunity for business- es to make money, since thecountry is close to Qatar.
President Samia was speaking at an event to receive the CECAFA Challenge Cup 2021 trophy at the State House in Dar es Salaam, on Sunday.
“Tanzania is one of the largest cashew producers in Africa, during that period (World Cup 2022) the demand for the nuts will certainly increase, let’s see how we can pack it well and take it there, instead of relying on the markets we have every day,” she noted.
“This is a new market and will boost the price of our cashew nuts as well as other products such as meat and fish, so it is important to take advantage of that opportunity,” President Samia added.
exports providing 10-15 per cent of Tanzania’s foreign exchange. The country is the eighth-largest grower of cashew nuts in the world and ranks fourth in Africa.
In the cashew crop 2020/2021, Tanzania Produces 206,718 tonnes of Raw Cashews nut (RCN). The production hit a four-year low, lowering the income of farmers from Tanzania cashew farmers.
Most cashews from Tanzania are exported to India, Vietnam. The total volume of raw cashew nuts (RCN) Tanzania ex- ported to Vietnam in the first four months of 2021 was 131.757 tonnes, worth 191 million US dollars (about 442bn/-).
In terms of tourism, the Head of State said operators can put a special package for people before arriving and when leaving Qatar, to come to Tanzania for tourism.
Tourism contributes an aver- age of 17 per cent of GDP; 25 per cent of foreign exchange and generates approximately 1.6 million direct and indirect jobs per year.
In addition, the sector stimulates the growth of other eco- nomic sectors, including manufacturing, trade, agriculture, livestock, and transportation.
Around 71,400 tourists arrived in Tanzania in March 2021. The number of arrivals declined from some 79,700 in the previous month. It maintained, however, a recovery trend compared to the second quarter of 2020.
At that period, the Tanza- nian tourism sector registered a dramatic decline because of the coronavirus pandemic. In May 2020, the number of visitors was at its lowest level, counting only 5,500 people.
Tanzania is a globally recognised destination for nature- based tourism, a competitive market segment in eastern and southern Africa. Beyond attracting tourists, the country’s land- scapes and seascapes produce a wide range of ecosystem services, including carbon sequestration and biodiversity co-benefits that are not efficiently priced and often generate little or no financial return.
As the tourism sector transitions gradually into recovery from coronavirus pandemic with the rest of the world, the latest World Bank Tanzania Economic Update, Transforming Tourism: Toward a Sustainable, Resilient, and Inclusive Sector urges authorities to look toward its future resilience by addressing long-running challenges that could help position Tanzania on a higher and more inclusive growth trajectory.
