Tanzania to create 1 mln jobs from revived industries

DAR ES SALAAM, Aug. 28 — More than 1 million Tanzanians will be
employed by 25 formerly dormant industries to be reclaimed by by the
government after their revival, an official said on Saturday.

The revival of the industries that were reclaimed after investors failed to
develop them for over 20 years will be jointly funded by the country’s
social security funds, said Meshack Bandawe, secretary of the Tanzania
Social Security Association (TSSA). Bandawe said TSSA will team up with
the National Health Insurance Fund, the Parastatal Pensions Fund, the
National Social Security Fund , the Workers Compensation Fund and the
Zanzibar Social Security Fund to invest in the reclaimed industries. “The
funds will be mandated to revive some of the dormant industries and
construct new factories in Kilimanjaro, Iringa, Morogoro, Dodoma, Mwanza,
Simiyu, Kagera and Coast regions,” said Bandawe.

In line with the national development plan 2025, which is geared to
transform Tanzania into a semi-industrialized middle income nation,
President John Magufuli had in March last year directed social security
funds to invest in industries. Bandawe said feasibility studies for 15
industries have been completed, while studies on the other 10 industries
will be completed within a short time. “We have started to implement some
of the projects. Our target is to ensure that all the factories become
operative before 2019,” said Bandawe. On Aug. 10, Tanzanian authorities
announced the repossession of 10 privatized industries after they had been
dormant for 20 years.

Minister for Industries, Trade and Investment Charles Mwijage invited
interested investors to apply for fresh acquisition of the industries. He
warned owners of five other industries and gave them a grace period until
Aug. 22 to correct weaknesses or return the factories to the government.
The repossession of the industries by the government came after President
Magufuli ordered the minister to reclaim them.Earlier this month, Magufuli
said there were 197 dormant industries in the country. “We made mistakes
when we privatized the industries,” said Magufuli. On July 27, the
government said it had started looking for investors to develop industries
which it has repossessed from investors who abandoned them after
privatization. – XINHUA