Kikwete to grace REPOA's 19th meeting

By Prosper Makene

Research for Poverty Alleviation (REPOA)

President Jakaya Kikwete is expected to grace the official opening of the 19th Annual Research Workshop, Research for Poverty Alleviation (REPOA) to be held next week in Dar es Salaam.


Speaking at a news conference yesterday in Dar es salaam, REPOA’S Acting Executive Director, Dr. Donald Mmari, said the envisaged research workshop is scheduled for April 9-10 and will attract local and foreign delegates representing a broad spectrum of stakeholders to include researchers, academicians, private sector, policy makers, governments’ leaders, civil society and development partners.

“All these stakeholders have one common agenda, to find practical alternatives and best practices that will help improve the country’s economy and living standards of all Tanzanians,” he detailed.

According to Mmari, discussions and deliberations of the workshop will be conducted under the theme “Transformation, Job creation and Poverty Eradication: Enterprise Development for more inclusive growth.”

The main objective of the workshop is to address the dynamics of enterprise development, particularly the micro small and medium scale economics (MSMEs) and their potential roles in creating productive employment, linkages between them and larger scale enterprises, transition from low productivity informal setting towards more formal, dynamic and high productivity enterprises.

Mmari said other issues lined up for the discussions at the workshop encompass broader aspects that complement enterprise development and transformation, including the dynamics of inclusive economic growth, opportunities and challenges for transforming agriculture and rural economy.

“One hypothesis motivating the workshop is that a crucial role in improving the integration of the economy could be played by the MSME sector in an economy. The majority of non-agriculture employment in both rural and urban areas is found in micro, small and medium enterprises,” he added.

“The potential for the emergence of many more successful medium scale enterprises requires understanding of the dynamics of small business success,” he noted

REPOA’s forum comes in the wake of wide-spreading public concerns that economic growth has not been sufficiently inclusive, as millions of Tanzanians are still constrained by poverty and massive unemployment.

The workshop is organised each year by REPOA, one of the leading national think tanks and this year it comes as Tanzania aspires to move to middle-income economy status in the face of daunting economic and social challenges.

The workshop is an important platform for international and local researchers as well as policy makers and other development stakeholders to digest research results and policy alternatives that can lift Tanzania to the next stage of development. 

SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN