Mkuu, although sikubaliani na Mzalendo80. I can prove you wrong on the red part above.
If by chance you were born in the early eighties (which I doubt) and you happened to come to Tanzania for a visit, the scenario you would have met is that 90% of all the stuff in shops was coming from Kenya. At the border almost all movement of goods was from Kenya to Tanzania. The only thing I remember used to go to Kenya from Tanzania was mitumba clothes and timber. That was then. Now tell me anything, anything that is coming from Kenya to Tanzania apart from Oxygen from BOC gasses and farmers choice sausages. The other is heavy equipment imported through Mombasa port to gold mining industry of Tanzania and they do this to take advantage of the heavier road tonnage allowed on Kenya roads. Very occasionally a few jua kali traders may bring a truckload of potatoes when they are off season in Tanzania. Go to the border and find out how many trucks are carrying goods to Kenya and how many trucks to Tanzania. At namanga, holili(taveta) and horo horo (lunga lunga) border post for every 100 Tanzania trucks that pass through the border only between 1-5 kenyan trucks will pass. Heading towards Kenya they will be loaded and coming back they are empty. (I know that abt 50% of the Tanzanian trucks are owned by Kenyans!!! so they can smuggle as much as possible from Tanzania -especially foodstuffs, like sugar, maize, beans but this is ok as it is money earned)Go to all the stalls in Nairobi that are selling clothes and ask them where they are getting their stocks. Tanzania. Only shoes and handbags are coming from Uganda.
Big importers of clothes in Kenya are at Eastleigh. Somalis...and they import directly from China, korea, malaysia and singapore. I would be gratefull if you can enlighten me of 3 products that I can bring from Kenya to Tanzania apart from what ave mentioned above and a few other mostly in transit items. Every industry that is there in Kenya is also in Tanzania. Name one which is not.
The major sad difference is that the Kenyan goods are manufactured by Foreign owned firms in Kenya and in Tanzania they are made by Tanzanian owned industries. I know it pains a lot that Tanzania no longer needs Big Brother Kenya anymore but it is the sad truth.
If Kenyans can accept this fact and show maximum respect, am sure integration will be much faster, but you keep dreaming of the good old days and continue to bury your heads in the sand like ostriches. Furthermore direct foreign investments are not a problem as they have nothing to choose Kenya over Tanzania. Furthermore there is no normal FDI's that would choose Kenya over Tanzania especially in Industry. In services I can agree.[/QUOTE]
Firstly
chash I am Kenyan..................and then Maybe what FDI probably would choose Tz over kenya is the cheap semi-skilled labour market, partly the scenario that has made CHINA rise economically. Infrustructure remains a challenge in TZ and I must say that Kenya has somehow managed to improve that sector. kenya corruption practises are becoming a thing of the past. If you can check Transparency international. Now it's Tz and Uganda that are ranked poorly in the corruption report index. And by that it means the Kenya's landscape for investments will attract investors from the local scene to the international scene to come to kenya to invest but the media has chosen to give some of these improvements a blind eye. You are talking of shoes and handbags, well that will somehow improve the lives of the common man and I do not deny that some revenue can stream from such business. Tanzania has chosen to APE europe post world war and america pre-world war by slapping, increasing tarrifs. That is usually to undermine intergration. Then you will hear a tanzanian asking why can't kenya do the same.
The question will remain how many tanzanians cross kenya in comparison to Kenya crossing tanzania? Kenyans flock tanzania more often to get goods like shoes handbags and other stuff. Tz has remained a hotspot for the sale and smuggling cheap sugar, maize, beans, and rice imports from IRAN!... a factor that is killing the competitiveness of kenyan trade. It is funny that there is a new clique of tz businessmen there that have decided to use underhand trade techniques...to block trade in EA under the glare of authorities.
If Tanzania is reducing its overeliance to kenya in terms of production of goods, that is good news and the good old days are gone. However, the challenge remains
EFFECIENCY of getting finished products from processing of raw materials.
With the energy required to produce finished raw materials, is the output from raw materials worth the power energy consumption?.......... What is the cost of energy?................. Are there constant power black outs?......... This and other question is what Investors are asking day-by-day apart from the lucrative cheap labour. That is why foreign investors may opt and be confortable in kenya. If Tz had improved such incentivies, maybe that
suspicion against kenya would not be a factor. You would have been playing in a different ball-game. The task is up to you to increase your competitiveness and not creating every blockade. I do not deny TZ is blessed with raw materials for their industries. But those other factors should also be considered. Tanzanians Like self-depriciating themselves, that is why they say kenyans are arrogant....I have never bought and will never buy that Idea.
