Tanzania: Right policies for development needed

Census data offers the country crucial statistics needed for socioeconomic development in all sectors.

It is in the public domain that formal employment – in both the public and private sectors – in Tanzania has provided jobs for not more than 2.5 million adults.

This group alone is too small to sustain the workload of financing the budget through taxes.

Of course, 65 percent of the country’s work force engages in agriculture, according to past National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) figures, but this category is mostly made up of peasants undertaking subsistence farming.

There is the category of those who engage in petty trading. They number a few hundred thousand, and thus their contribution to government revenue is negligible.

Therefore, if Tanzania is to create more jobs, it has to focus and open doors through good and predictable policies so as to reinvigorate the operations of micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs).

To boost MSMEs, the country must do away with red tape, particularly those well documented long and tedious processes, so as to speed up the creation of more such entities.

This is the door that will encourage young people to opt for self-employment after completing their education journeys, and tap into their innovative prowess as they seek to make their life dreams a reality.

Affording them seed capital, simplified acquisition of the necessary permits and a friendly tax regime must be given top priority by the authorities.

Tanzania needs MSMEs as they are the engine of transformation towards improving the quality of life through better earnings and access to quality education, health and other social services.

Let MSMEs thrive for national prosperity and swift development.

Let journalists do their job

The world yesterday marked International Day to End Impunity for Crimes against Journalists. Ending impunity for crimes against journalists is one of the most pressing issues to guarantee freedom of expression and access to information for all citizens, according to the United Nations.

Between 2006 and 2020, over 1,200 journalists have been killed for reporting the news and bringing information to the public. In nine out of ten cases the killers go unpunished, according to the Unesco observatory of killed journalists

Impunity leads to more killings, and is often a symptom of worsening conflict and the breakdown of law and judicial systems.

The situation is such that there are countries where journalism can be a dangerous or even deadly job.

Justice systems that vigorously investigate all threats of violence against journalists send a powerful message that society will not tolerate attacks against journalists and against the right to freedom of expression for all.