Africa-Press – Tanzania. THE government has reiterated commitment to supporting young innovators by developing their talents in line with national interests.
Speaking in Dar es Salaam on Saturday during his tour of Tanzania Commission for Science and Technology (Costech), Deputy Minister for Education, Science and Technology Kipanga Juma Omary said the government recognised great contribution from innovators groomed and developed by Costech.
His tour aimed at familiarising himself with activities of Costech and know its challenges and plans to address them.
He called on Costech to continue with its good work of grooming young innovators who would in the future contribute to the country’s development.
The deputy minister promised that he would meet with his colleagues in the Ministry of Finance and Planning and the Ministry of Industry and Trade to look into the best way for them to progress.
“One of the government’s roles is to develop the talents of its people so that they become more productive for their nation. So, we will sit down with our colleagues from those ministries to see how we can develop these young talents and make their innovations useful to society,” he said.
He explained that it was important to groom talents because the country would have more people with creative minds and contribute to producing more Tanzanian millionaires and implementing President John Magufuli’s promise that he wanted to produce more Tanzanian millionaires during his leadership.
“I am pleased with the good work done by Costech to identify and groom young talents, especially in science and technology. How we are going to sustain and make them useful to the nation is something discussable, but I assure you that the government will help improve their talents,” Mr Omary said.
For his part, Costech Director-General, Dr Amos Nungu, encouraged the youth countrywide to engage in innovations that would contribute to Tanzania’s journey towards the industrial economy.
Dr Nungu explained that Costech had the mandate to groom young scientists and coordinate their innovations and develop researches to improve productivity in the industrial sector.
“We are bringing them together, grooming and promoting their talents to ensure their innovations thrive,” said Dr Nungu.
One young innovator Isaya Yunge, who designed a smart watch, asked the government to offer them a payment grace period when they wanted to register a company because most of them could not afford to pay during initial stages due to lack of capital.
Mr Yunge, who is founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of Goodsam Technologies Company, said he was looking for capital that would enable him to open a factory where he would be training his peers graduating from Dar es Salaam Institute of Technology (DIT) and National Institute of Transport (NIT).
“It will take about six months for a student to understand how to assemble a smart watch,” he explained.
“We propose for a review of policies that speak about us (innovators), particularly about registering research works and payments,” he appealed.
Currently, he said, the country’s policies required a researcher to register their works and pay tax.
“As you know it takes long to conduct research, sometimes even a few years. During all this time we don’t make money, so where will we get the money to pay tax during research trials? We urge the government to give us a grace period so that we can pay tax after finishing our works,” he asked.
Mr Yunge explained that the smart watch he had invented was designed in manner that could identify a pregnant woman, if it were worn and the time she would give birth.
