Africa-Press – Tanzania. ZANZIBAR has in the past nine months approved 30 investment projects, which will inject 172.13 million US dollars (over 400bn/-) in the economy and create 1,886 jobs for the islanders.
The Minister of State, President’s Office, Labour, Economy and Investment, Mudrik Ramadhan Soraga told the House of Representatives here yesterday that the government through Zanzibar Investment Promotion Authority (ZIPA) is determined to attract huge private capitals in the Isles.
Moving his office’s 2021/2022 budget estimates, the minister said investment promotion campaigns were this financial year focused on Malaysia, Philippine, Singapore, Indonesia, Sweden, South Africa, Abudhabi, Zimbabwe and Dubai with an eye on the industrial sector.
ZIPA had between July 2020 and March 2021 received 35 prospective investment projects in various sectors of the economy. Through thorough scrutiny, 30 projects were approved and issued with investment permits, said the minister.
Determined to strengthen the investment sector under the public private partnership (PPP), the government has reviewed tender documents for 13 PPP projects to get the appropriate investors.
Mr Soraga revealed that his ministry is currently holding negotiations prior to signing of the agreements with six potential investors under PPP.
The major anticipated projects are in fishery, construction of convention centre, construction of Pemba airport, redevelopment of Bwawani hotel and construction of Zanzibar Domino Tower.
The minister told the house further that the cooperative management and development programme, which envisages transforming the cooperative unions in the Indian Ocean semiautonomous archipelagos to make them strong and sustainable, will in the next fiscal year register 400 societies, audit the financial accounts of 350 others and provide guidelines to 1,000 cooperative societies.
During the current year, the programme has registered 318 societies—155 and 163 in Unguja and Pemba, respectively—bringing to 4,877 the total number of registered cooperatives.
Through the Labour Commission, the minister said, a total of 1,129 foreigners from Italy, India, China, UK and East Africa were given work permits to work in the islands’ hospitality, higher learning, health and construction sectors.
He further said the commission will in the 2021/2022 fiscal year inspect 600 institutions, approve employment contracts for 5,000 Zanzibaris; inspect 15 employers and employees’ associations and give education on labour laws to 40 institutions.
The minister asked the house to approve 34.9bn/- for the ministry’s recurrent and development projects.
The House’s Economic Standing Committee Chairperson, Mr Shaaban Ali Othman, presenting the committee’s outlook on the budget, expressed doubts on the possibility of creating 300,000 jobs by 2025 as per Chama Cha Mapinduzi’s 2020/2025 election manifesto.
He described as too minimal to meet the ruling party’s target the envisaged 1,700 jobs in the private sector in the 2021/2022 fiscal year, proposing more innovation in creating more employment opportunities in the country.
Mr Othman further belittled the 850m/-, which the ministry anticipates as fees from inspections, blaming the problem on a weak and poorly equipped inspection unit in the ministry.
