By Hilda Mhagama
With the intention of improving and sustaining charcoal business in the country, the National Development Corporation (NDC) is on the verge of drafting a plan to formalise the sector and address its hitches.
This was revealed in Dar es Salaam yesterday by NDC Acting Director, Research and Planning, Dr Grace Mselle in her presentation to the Minister of State in the President's Office (Investment), Prof Kitila Mkumbo during a meeting with corporation management.
Dr Mselle said a properly managed charcoal industry will create significant employment and income opportunities in Tanzania.
"Charcoal will remain an important element of the energy mix in Tanzania for many years to come, thus we want to formalise the business in which, in January 2021, we will have a meeting with other stakeholders to scrutinise more on the agenda," she said.
According to the 2010 Tanzania Demographic and Health Survey (TDHS), charcoal accounts for almost two-thirds of urban domestic energy usage for cooking.
Charcoal and fuel wood combined account for 94.6 per cent of Tanzania's cooking energy.
The World Bank's study conducted in 2009 suggested that the charcoal sector, while poorly governed, contributed over 650 million US dollars annually to the Tanzanian economy and is a major source of employment and income in both urban and rural areas.
In terms of its value to the informal economy, charcoal far exceeded coffee and tea which contributed around 60 million and 45 million US dollars respectively, and even exceeded foreign direct investment estimated at 470 million US dollars in 2007.
Prof Mkumbo said there are more than 3.7 million people countrywide involved in the charcoal business, but most of whom are not recognised.
"Of these, 73 per cent are charcoal traders and only 3 per cent are involved in production, which means these people cannot create jobs for other people, so there is a great opportunity for investment in the area," he said.
The Minister further said the process of formalising the business was crucial, because a properly managed charcoal industry will create significant employment and income opportunities in the country, simply because it will integrate these producers into a production and marketing system that will add value and a potential driver of economic growth.
A statement issued by Ministry for Natural Resources and Tourism on 21st January 2020 disclosed that about 400,000 hectors of forest are destroyed per year for illegal charcoal production.
On other areas that NDC works on, Dr Mselle also said NDC is making efforts to reviving the tires manufacturing plant in Arusha, initiated the modernisation of the Kilimanjaro Machine Tools Co. (KMTC) facility and the bio-fertiliser manufacturing project at TAMCO.
She further said NDC was in the process of developing and implementing several new projects together with the private sector through joint venture agreements, which are at various stages of implementation.
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