Africa-Press – Tanzania. AS the world marked the International Women’s Day on Wednesday, the private sector has showered President Samia Suluhu Hassan with praises for spearheading major economic reforms.
In her message, the Chairperson of Tanzania Private Sector Foundation (TPSF), Ms Angelina Ngalula said the country has seen key sectors of the economy recouping rapidly, thanks to the painstaking reforms by the country’s first female President Dr Samia.
She added: “The brave decision of rolling out of vaccination against Covid-19 and embracing the private sector as an economic engine, major reforms on trade and taxation regimes, are just a few vivid examples that enabled the country to achieve a robust overall economic growth in post Covid-19.
“For instance, we have successfully managed to recoup the multi-billion-dollars tourism industry through the government and private sector’s efforts.”
Ms Ngalula, who is also the East African Business Council Chairperson, further said the Covid-19 also affected the tourism sector that is a money-spinning industry in the country with its 1.3 million direct jobs, besides generating 2.6 billion US dollars annually, equivalent to 18 per cent as well as 30 per cent of the country’s GDP and export receipts, respectively.
Elaborating, she noted that Dr Samia’s economic diplomacy has seen the door of the strategic Chinese avocado market worth nearly 150 million US dollars per annum being unlocked.
Courtesy of the President Samia’s meeting with her Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping, the duo agreed on Tanzania and China signing a protocol that would allow the former’s avocados and aquatic products to access the latter’s lucrative and sprawling market.
“This is a clear testimony that when a tigress is on the helm, development is always achieved. We in the private sector are grateful and proud indeed of Dr Samia’s leadership and we are supporting her efforts to transform our country,” the TPSF chief noted.
Meanwhile, the TPSF top official underscored the importance of the role of innovation and technology in advancing gender equality and empowering women entrepreneurs to grow their businesses and alleviate poverty in the communities.
Ms Ngalula said TPSF recognised the catalytic role that women play towards achievement of transformational economic, environmental and social changes required for sustainable development in our societies, hence there’s need to empower them in order to address challenges they are going through.
“With over 31.7million women in Tanzania, this number matters because empowering women is “smart economics,” and that gender equality promotes economic growth and human development.
“In Tanzania, women entrepreneurs face numerous challenges, including limited access to finance with only 7.8 per cent of women having access to bank loans, compared to 22 per cent of men. Other challenges include access to markets, information and participation in the formal economy,” the TPSF chairperson said.
According to her, innovation and technology provide opportunities to overcome these challenges, especially by providing access to new markets, financing and information.
The International Women’s Day 2023 is being heralded by the theme: “DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality.”
On this year’s theme, Ms Ngalula said it reflects the role of innovation and technology in advancing gender equality and empowering women entrepreneurs to grow their businesses and alleviate poverty in their communities.
“As the Tanzania Private Sector Foundation, we are committed to leveraging innovation and technology to create an enabling environment for women in business across Tanzania. We will continue to advocate for policies and programmes that promote gender equality in access to technology, financing, and markets.
“We will also provide capacity building and mentorship programmes to support women entrepreneurs to develop their technology skills and integrate technology into their businesses,” she said.
Regarding this year’s theme, the Chairperson is optimistic that more jobs for women in the economy will expand decent work and broaden women’s access and control over productive resources and develop gender-responsive economic plans.
She called upon all stakeholders, including the government, private sector, civil society and development partners to join TPSF’s efforts to harness the power of innovation and technology to empower women in business in Tanzania.
Through cooperation between stakeholders, she adds: “We can create a more inclusive and prosperous society, where women can fully participate and contribute to the economy, and alleviate poverty.”
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