Dar es Salaam. State Mining Corporation (Stamico) has teamed up with the Confederation of Tanzania Industries (CTI) to address the challenge of underutilisation of locally sourced raw materials in the country’s industrial production.
Therefore, the partnership has organised a two-day meeting gathering over 700 stakeholders including smallholder miners, local industries and financial institutions.
Addressing a press conference yesterday, Stamico managing director, Dr Venance Mwasse said the meeting is slated to take place at the Julius Nyerere International Conference Centre (JNICC) and will be officiated by the minister of Minerals, Dr Dotto Biteko.
Mr Mwasse said their expectation is that the collaboration will provide answers to several challenges leading to failure use of domestic sourced raw materials especially from the mining sector.
“The meeting is expected to establish what small-scale miners are missing, what is the CTI demand and financial institutions’ failure to lend the subsector,” he said.
“Hopefully, the challenges are expected to be resolved by the end of the meeting. Regulatory institutions such as the Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA), the National Environmental Management Council (Nemc); the Mineral Commission and the Geological Survey of Tanzania (GST) will also be part of the meeting,” he said.
CTI executive director Leodegar Tenga said not all mineral related raw materials from local sources are used in the industries, adding that the meeting is expected to encourage utilization of local resources instead of importation from outside the country.
“This is important because it will enhance the performance of local industries and increase competitiveness in the country. But, the most important thing is that the move is significant to the country’s economy,” he said.
“The linkage will ensure that we have the market of locally manufactured products, enhance the value chain and definitely in the long term the benefits are immense,” he added.
The challenges with domestically sourced raw materials are caused by the lack of experience and modern technology by local providers, noting that a huge technology is required to refine the raw materials to acquire the much needed quality for utilization in the industries.
He added that at the same time industries would want to buy inputs that would enhance the quality of the final product, noting that for that matter most of the time local industries prefer to import local materials because they would not want to temper or compromise with the quality of the products.
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Tanzania: Samia Hands Over NBC’s 354m/ – Crop Insurance Compensation to Farmers Affected By Hailstorms
President Samia Suluhu Hassan, has handed over a cheque of 354m/- from the National Bank of Commerce (NBC) as compensation to tobacco farmers, who were affected by hailstorms during the previous farming season in various regions across the country.
Handing over the cheque in Dodoma, the compensation is part of the crop insurance service provided by NBC in collaboration with the National Insurance Corporation (NIC).
Furthermore, President Samia has also handed over health insurance coverage to members of the Lindi Mwambao Cooperative Union based in Lindi Region, through the Farmers’ Health Insurance service provided by the bank in partnership with Assurance Insurance Company.
While visiting the bank’s pavilion at the Nanenane Agricultural Exhibition and being received and briefed by the bank’s Managing Director, Mr. Theobald Sabi, she said: “This crop insurance is one of the crucial solutions in ensuring farmers have a reliable income, without fear of challenges such as natural disasters, including hailstorms.
“I call upon all farmers in the country to make the best use of this important opportunity by accessing these kinds of insurance services. I also highly commend NBC and all the stakeholders participating in this programme.”
Elaborating further on the crop insurance service, the Minister of Agriculture, Hussein Bashe, stated that it will help to recover the loss farmers incurred, especially in various calamities beyond their control.
Citing them as floods, fires, and hailstorms, which have significantly affected the well-being of farmers and caused some to be reluctant to invest in the crucial sector, Mr Bashe added: “However, our President, this step by NBC is just the beginning, as this is the second year since they started offering this service, and the results are already visible.
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“As the government, we promise to continue supporting the wider implementation of this service, with the goal of ensuring that this crop insurance service reaches more farmers.”
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On his part, Mr Sabi said that the farmers who benefited from the compensations are from 23 primary cooperative unions in the regions of Shinyanga, Geita, Tabora, Mbeya, Katavi, and Kigoma.
He added: “In addition to these insurance services, as a bank, through this exhibition, we have continued with our programme of providing financial education and various banking opportunities to farmers, alongside offering them various loans, including loans for agricultural equipment, particularly tractors, to eligible farmers.:
At the NBC booth, President Samia also had the opportunity to be briefed on the various services offered by the bank to the farmers namely crop insurance and health insurance services.
There, the President had the chance to speak with some of the beneficiaries of the services, including the Vice-Chairman of the Lindi Mwambao Primary Cooperative Union, Mr. Hassan Mnumbe, whose union has been provided with a health insurance card from the bank.
Source: allafrica.com
