Germany: Why all this poverty in Tanzania?

[Jibaba Bonge]

By Patrick Kisembo
1st October 2010

Germany`s Ambassador to Tanzania, Guido Hertz, gestures as he stresses a point during yesterday`s exclusive interview with The Guardian in Dar es Salaam. (Photo: Tryphone Mweji)

Tanzanians would do themselves and their country a lot of good by more vigorously tackling the factors that make some of them live in abject poverty in the midst of an abundance of economic and other resources, German Ambassador Guido Hertz has said.

He made the remarks in an exclusive interview with this paper in Dar es Salaam yesterday, saying that he found the situation hard to explain or understand.

The interview was conducted as part of the run-up to the 20th anniversary of Germany's reunification on Sunday (October 3) and the envoy was giving his views on why it has taken Tanzania so long to prosper socially and economically despite ranking as one of the biggest recipients of donor assistance.

"Tanzania is a country with everything to make it happy. It has among the longest coastlines, big railway lines, massive agricultural potentials and water sources as well as an abundance of other natural resources, but it is not using them well," he said.

Ambassador Hertz also cited the historical fact that Tanzania had not really fought wars of liberation on its own soil or had the misfortunes of being led by a dictator to the point of being adversely affected economically.

"There are a lot of opportunities Tanzania could have seized and gone very far ahead economically, but I do not have the answer as to why it is this way, though the situation is better now than it was in the past," he said.

"It appears to me that you (Tanzania) are stretching yourselves to the limit while all resources you need to register development are there waiting to be exploited," he quickly added.

The envoy noted that Tanzania is not landlocked, it has much less desert than does Kenya, it has never experienced floods as disastrous as those that have been hitting Mozambique, and has for the last 50 years or so enjoyed generous supports from the donor community.

"My honest opinion is that the country could have made a lot more mileage from these comparative benefits than has happened," he pointed out, saying even merely tapping the immense potential in tourism a little more seriously, would have made a world of difference.

He said it was impossible for anyone to blame the situation on any single factor, adding that he saw it as"a systemic problem" where structural restructuring could help.

Ambassador Hertz explained that Germany once found itself in a roughly similar quagmire' "and we managed to get on to the path to social and economic development by engaging a really well functioning administration".

He said while political will had a role to play in such situations, having enough of it and translating it into implementation of development projects has inherent problems.

However, he applauded the political stability, peace and harmony and good leadership Tanzania has known for decades and only hoped they would continue to be treasured as cornerstones of social and economic development.

"Germany wholeheartedly supports everything meant to keep Tanzania on the development it has chosen for itself," said the envoy, adding: "We recognise it as an icon of political stability in this part of the world and as a country that prizes unity that proudly stands on the solid foundation built under the leadership of Father of the Nation, Mwalimu Julius Nyerere."

Turning specifically to his country's reunification in 1990, he said the commemoration of the event was "an opportunity to look back and be thankful that the path to a unified Germany turned out to be so unexpectedly straightforward and the road was travelled so fast".

SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN

 

[Dingswayo]

We all know what the systemic is. Let us all deal with it, come October 31st.

 

[coby]

Wana JF, hivi TZ tunataka hadi watu watutusi ndo tubadilike???

 

[Henge]

Mimi mwenyewe sijui kwanini Tanzania ni masikini

 

[MANI]

Due to poor governance of CCM that's the only problem once we let them down come october 31 things will change.

 

[Susuviri]

Hiyo ni diplomatic language ... hawezi kusema kuwa anajua tatizo ni CCM government... kama ningekuwa mimi TZ govt ningejua donors wameanza kutoa criticism zao kiaina....

 

[Magehema]

Well said, what we need is a leader with MORAL AUTHORITY to take us to the next level!

 

[coby]

Mimi mwenyewe sijui kwanini Tanzania ni masikini

Wewe na JK sawasawa or unamzidi!!!!

 

[pierre]

Nimemsoma huyu Balozi vizuri, lakini mbona jibu analo???

Ambassador Hertz explained that Germany once found itself in a roughly similar quagmire' "and we managed to get on to the path to social and economic development by engaging a really well functioning administration".

Balozi naomba uwaamshe watanzania waliolala.Maana wenzio wako usingizini kabisa tena wa usiku wa manane.

Tueleze kwanza jinsi mlivyowaamsha wajerumani mpaka kupata well functioning administration.

Tatizo letu watanzania ni kuwa tumelala tena usingizi mzito. Tukitaka kutoka kwenye dimbwi hili la umasikini, kwanza ni kuamka, ndio tuanze kazi maana aliyelala hawezi kufanya kazi hata ungempa zana zote, atafanya je maana amelala.

KWANZA TUAMKE, NDIO KAZI IANZE.

 

[Wambugani]

Hata hivyo, JK alishawahi kutoa jibu akiwa Ufaransa. Ni jibu lake ni kwamba hajui. Huyo Balozi angepewa nakala ya Ilani ya CHADEMA kwa kuwa jibu lipo katika sehemu ya Dibaji.

 

[DICTATOR]

Wataz bado tumelala, na tukitaka kuamka CCM wanaongezea blanketi tuendelee kulala fofofo. Dr Slaa is our only hope and we need him now for better future of our country.

 

[Abdulhalim]

Good perspective though the donor community needs to be realistic and honest on which side they stand for. For the ruling gods or the common deprived mwananchi.

It is clear the former are not for the good of the latter. So the so called donors are at fault themselves by supporting the bottomless pit of non-functioning system which does not deliver.

It's time everyone to do his/her job. Donors have to act smartly enough to invest their support when merited and having a direct impact to the common masses. Their credibility and honesty will be put into question if they continue to associate themselves with the ruling gods who have proven to be incompetent and not having a knowledge suffice to press right buttons needed to stimulate the economy of the poor masses.

 

[STREET SMART]

Mbona wakuu wanayajua yote hayo, ila sijui wana dudu gani katika nafsi zao

 

[Mwanamayu]

Balozi huyu ameuliza swali lililoulizwa na wale watoto kwenye tangazo la policy forum ambalo Tido Mhando amelisimamisha! Pia anamwuliza JK kwa nini unaenda kuomba nje wakati mambo yote unayo ndani?

Kwa maneno mengine safari za JK ni bure na upotevu wa kodi zetu. Lakini jibu lake ni rahisi: siasa chafu, uongozi mbovu, ardhi inaporwa, wengi wa watu hawana elimu (wajinga) na wapumbafu.

 

[Mdondoaji]

Wewe unadhani hata kama tuna dhahabu zimetapakaa za kuokota kama uongozi wa nchi mbovu hatutakaa kamwe kuwa na maendeleo. Kwasababu watu tuliowaamini uongozi ndio watakuwa wa kwanza kutusaliti.

Matatizo ya Tanzania yanajulikana mosi uongozi mbovu (mtu anaangaliwa nani badala ya competence yake), ufisadi (mtu atafuta loopholes za kufanya ufisadi naye atambulikane aliwahi kuwa waziri au kiongozi), lack of accountability (uwajibikaji) (watu wanawajibika kisanii sanii tu mfano mpaka sasa mafisadi wanajulikana but hakuna aliyefikishwa mahakamani).

Hivi vitu kama havitaondolewa Tanzania tutabakia maskini milele na hizo rasilimali iko siku tutazililia sana lakini wapi zitakuwa zimeshaisha

 

[Mdondoaji]

Balozi huyu ameuliza swali lililoulizwa na wale watoto kwenye tangazo la policy forum ambalo Tido Mhando amelisimamisha! Pia anamwuliza JK kwa nini unaenda kuomba nje wakati mambo yote unayo ndani?

Kwa maneno mengine safari za JK ni bure na upotevu wa kodi zetu. Lakini jibu lake ni rahisi: siasa chafu, uongozi mbovu, ardhi inaporwa, wengi wa watu hawana elimu (wajinga) na wapumbafu.

Lakini hawa mabalozi ni wasanii wanafahamu fika kinachoendelea ila wanauma na kupuliza. Mie huwa siwaamini hata siku moja makampuni ndio yanafaidika na lucrative deals za serikali huku wakijua viongozi walioingia nao mikataba ni mafisadi. Binafsi anapiga vuvuzela tu huyu hana jipya!!!

 

[Alpha]

Mimi mwenyewe sijui kwanini Tanzania ni masikini

It's very simple and the ambassador hinted at it in a very diplomatic way. The problem is POOR LEADERSHIP. It all begins here.

The people need to vote in better leaders but the people are uneducated. The people are uneducated because the schools are inadequate. the schools are inadequate because they are poorly funded, the teachers are poorly paid, the students are hungry...etc. All this is because the government claims they have no money. We are surrounded by water (lake victoria, lake tanganyika, lake malawi, etc) yet people don't have clean water. We have plenty of arable land yet people are going hungry. We have incredible, unique tourist attractions yet our neighbours attract more tourists. We have plenty of resources but they all being exploited by foreigners who repatriate all the profit and wealth generated back to their home countries leaving us with a pittance that doesn't even cover the yearly bonus of one of their executives.

Meanwhile millions of dollars are wasted, stolen, misused etc and nobody is held accountable for anything. Our leaders are corrupt, incompetent and lazy. Our institutions (Tanesco, Air Tanzania, TRL, etc) are poorly organised, poorly managed and inefficient.

I could go on and on and on. It is criminal that after 50 years of independence we are in such a poor state. The opposition might not be all that we have hoped for but it is time to take a chance with them. We cannot continue like this. VOTE CHADEMA, KICK CCM OUT!!

 

[truth]

Due to poor governance of CCM that's the only problem once we let them down come october 31 things will change.

And you think CHADEMA will come with Miracles!!!!? I still beleave something more than politics is needed. Tu wavivu na ndiyo maana wengi tunafikiri Chama fulani kitaleta miujiza kubadili uvivu tulionao. Fanya review kuanzia kwako mwenyewe, how many hours you spend at work everyday, how do you spend the funds you entrusted to etc. Ruling party ina matatizo yake lakini yetu wananchi yakuwajibika yamezidi, ndio maana hata maeneo yenye viongozi wazuri bado kuna matatizo!!

 

[Bongolander]

Lakini hawa mabalozi ni wasanii wanafahamu fika kinachoendelea ila wanauma na kupuliza. Mie huwa siwaamini hata siku moja makampuni ndio yanafaidika na lucrative deals za serikali huku wakijua viongozi walioingia nao mikataba ni mafisadi. Binafsi anapiga vuvuzela tu huyu hana jipya!!!

Washenzi wakubwa hawa. Wanajua tatizo ni nini lakini hawasemi ni wanafiki wakubwa. Wao ndio wanapiga debe makampuni yao kusaini mikataba ya wizi, hela zetu nyingi ziko kwenye mabenki yao, wanatoa visa kwa wanaotuibia. Hawana maana kabisa, kama wakitaka kutusadia watusaidie kweli, sio kutuzuga.

 

[Akwaba]

I believe many of you have it right. I think it is both a leadership problem as well as a problem of the mindset of Tanzanians. This mindset might be due to the failed socialist experiment. However, Singapore has proven than mindset and behavioural issues can be solved if you have a strong leader with vision and enough popular support. So really it comes down to leadership. Every country I have looked at that overcome development issues had a strong leader with a solid understanding of all all areas of a country, economic, social, political, etc..

I think what Tanzania might need is what I call economic transformation. Now the problems that face Tanzania are not unique, most African countries face the same problems. However, Tanzania has fewer excuses for failure and average performance. So let me go ahead and list the problems.

- Idle labor
- Insufficient Skilled Labor
- Insufficient Capital
- Insufficient number of entrepreneurs
- Government restrictions limit competition
- Slow government responsiveness
- High prices of value add goods
- Low quality of goods produced (some might want to argue with me on this but I have tried alot of Tanzanian made products. And basically they look great and are packed great but they can not compete with stuff made in Europe. There is no expert with enough knowledge of the product and manufacturing to tweak it enough to make it good)
- High cost of expertise (Over reliance of foreign labor which is highly paid - Some get higher salaries than they get in Europe)
- Poor infrastructure.

Here is the kicker. The only real problems are excessive government regulation and idle labor.

Excessive government regulation basically blocks all new business of ideas from entering the economy unless they are favored by the government. They provide a means for corruption as government has a reason to block stuff. I understand the concern among Tanzanians of having people especially foreigners do whatever they want and ruin the country. However, the cost is an inefficient economy and increased corruption.

Idle labor is huger. if you walk around Dar, or anywhere in Tanzania you see so many idle people. They are able healthy but aren't doing anything. The trick is to somehow get to be working on something productive most of the time. Imagine if we had 5% traditional iron workers, 10% carpenters, 5% mechanics, 5% stone masons and we had used the land to plant massive forests 20 years ago. We would all live in nice wooden/stone houses. We would have stone roads. We would have simple machines but they would work.

The problem is the government is not looking at the issue of labor and training as critically as needed. We don't need people being trained to make trinkets for tourists we need Engineers, chemists, carpenter, iron workers. Then we need the government to provide an alternate startup funding bank. So that local entrepreneurs can get low interest (6%) loans and start their businesses. However, corruption must be stamped out for this to work. So once again it is leadership. This country can achieve 15% growth I know it. However the leader are patting themselves on he back with 5% growth while the masses live in squalor.