Tanzania: 'Govt Prioritizes People-Centred Development'

THE government will focus on stimulating an inclusive and competitive economy, strengthening industrial production capabilities and service delivery as it starts implementing the Third Five Year National Development Plan (FYDP III).

According to Finance and Planning Minister Dr Mwigulu Nchemba, trade and investment promotion would be another area of focus as the nation strives to bring development to citizens and build human resource capacity.

Dr Nchemba said in order to facilitate its implementation, the new Plan has been developed in line with the Implementation Strategy which, among others, outlines all activities and objectives intended for whole period of implementation.

Also, the government has crafted a Financing Strategy (FS) that shows how to avail funding for development projects as well as other strategic steps outlined in the Plan.

There will be a Monitoring and Evaluation Strategy (MES) for monitoring the implementation of projects to know whether the intended results are being met and prompt corrective measures whenever needed to ensure delivery of the intended results.

"Through the slogan of the sixth phase government of 'KaziIendelee', each of us has a responsibility to fulfill assigned responsibilities effectively in order to achieve effective implementation of this Plan," states the minister.

The First National Five-Year Development Plan 2011/12 - 2015/16 was implemented in tandem with the National Strategy for Growth and Poverty Reduction (MKUKUTA II).

The Plan aimed to unleash growth opportunities for economic development whereas during the implementation of its Plan in line with MKUKUTA II.

During that time the country was able to rehabilitate the 2,707 km of Central Railway line; construction and rehabilitation of 2,775 kilometres of paved roads and upgrading the Dar es Salaam Port by increasing cargo handling capacity from 9.9 million tonnes in 2011/12 to 14.6 million tonnes in 2014/15.

Other achievements included increasing electricity generation from 900 MW in 2010 to1,246.24 MW in 2015; increase the rate of food self-sufficient ratio from 104 percent in 2011/12 to 125 percent in 2014/15; and strengthening provision of education, water, health and nutrition services at all levels for urban and rural populations.

"Overall, the implementation of the first plan achieved approximately 60 per cent of the planned targets," DrNchemba says.

Implementation of the Second National Five-Year Development Plan 2016/17 - 2020/21 under the slogan "HapaKaziTu" has increased efficiency in achieving the objectives of the Second Five Year National Development Plan 2016/17 - 2020/21 by 93.8 per cent.

The Second Plan has had many successes in the implementation of major flagship projects including: Construction of Central Corridor Standard Gauge Railway (SGR); Julius Nyerere Hydropower Project - 2,115 MW; and revamping Tanzania Airline Corporation Limited - ATCL.

In addition, in the manufacturing sector, 105 per cent of the targets were achieved whereby the sector's contribution to GDP reached 25.1 per cent compared to 21.1 per cent in 2015/16.

Similarly, the growth rate of production activities increased from 5.2 per cent in 2016/17 to 8.5 per cent in 2020/21, while the annual growth of the mining sector increased to 12.6 per cent from 6.9 per cent in 2015/16.

In the social services sector, notable achievements include improving access to social services for rural and urban residents where school enrolment has increased at all levels of education, and access to health care services has reached the villages level.

Furthermore, the analysis of human development index shows that the country has made progress on human development indicators including: increase in life expectancy; increase in literacy rate; decline in gender inequality index; and decline in the basic needs and food poverty.