TANZANIA competitiveness ranking has improved, moving up nine places to 116th position from 125th in the past four years.
According to this year’s Global
Competitive Report released in Dar es Salaam yesterday, Tanzania ranks
116 out of 138 countries. Briefing journalists on the report, Acting
Policy Research for Development (REPOA) Executive Director, Dr Lucas
Katera, said that Tanzania has been moving up for the past four years,
an indication of good performance in the country’s economy.
Mr Katera told reporters that in
2013/2014, Tanzania ranked 125th out of 148 countries, while in
2014/2015 it moved four places up, raking 121st out of 144. He added
that in 2015/2016, the competitiveness ranking slightly improved to
120th out of 140 countries, while in this year’s report, the country has
moved up four places to 116th out of 138 countries.
“Although we are still lagging behind,
here are some improvements in the country’s economy; the government
needs to improve the business environment to attract more investors,” Mr
Katera advised.
According to the report, Tanzania has
been performing well in government stability, attracting more investors
“as they are assured of their safety, improved public health, good
labour regulations, policy stability and market cycle’’.
He noted that Tanzania was a member of
various regional blocs such as the East African Community (EAC) and
Southern African Development Community (SADC), hence guaranteeing a
market for investors.
Dr Katera, however, said that there
still were some challenges, which called for government action to
improve the business environment in the country to attract more
investors.
The challenges include access to
financing, multiple taxes, poor infrastructure, corruption and
bureaucracy in business registration. “The Global Competitiveness Report
has helped us understand the drivers of growth.
This edition has come at a time of
stalling productivity, the main determinant of future growth,” Mr Katera
observed, A researcher with REPOA, Mr Cornel Jahari, said the research
was conducted in Dar es Salaam and targetted large and small scale
entrepreneurs.
He added that 100 business groups were
involved in the research, including companies employing between 1 and 50
people and those employing from 51 people and above.
The report shows that Rwanda is the most
competitive country in the EAC zone and third most competitive country
in the sub-Saharan Africa after Mauritius, which ranks first, and South
Africa, which ranks second. Kenya climbs to 96th, Ethiopia holds steady
at 109th while Nigeria slips three to 127th.
The top three countries in terms of competitiveness in the world are Switzerland, Singapore and USA respectively.
The Global Competitiveness Report’s
ranking is based on the Global Competitiveness Index (GCI), which was
introduced by the World Economic Forum in 2005. According to the report,
competitiveness is defined as the set of institutions, policies and
factors that determine the level of productivity of a country.
GCI scores are calculated by drawing
together countrylevel data covering 12 categories – the pillars of
competitiveness – that collectively make up a comprehensive picture of a
country’s competitiveness.
The 12 pillars are institutions,
infrastructure, macroeconomic environment, health and primary education,
higher education and training and goods market efficiency. Others are
labour market efficiency, financial market development, technological
readiness, market size, business sophistication, and innovation
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