by David Martin in Arusha, Tanzania – SANF 04 no 61
Increased cooperation between the public and private sectors is essential if Tanzania’s potential is to be realized, the Minister for Natural Resources and Tourism, Zakia Meghji said opening the Karibu Tanzania Travel and Trade Fair in Arusha.
As laudable as this may sound, it is an area fraught with suspicion. The public sector regards the private sector as mere capitalists and exploiters, and the private sector regards the public sector as bureaucratic and corrupt leaches. Such views are not exclusive to Tanzania.
When Meghji made her remarks, I happened to be standing next to some Tanzanian bureaucrats involved in tourism. They made it clear, despite the Minister’s message, that they were historically alienated from the private sector.
Unabashed, Meghji continued, “I would like to recognize the good job done by the tourism private sector in Tanzania, in ensuring that tourism gets the recognition it deserves in the international arena. Our country has greatly benefited from their support”.
Despite this being the 5th Karibu Tanzania Travel and Trade Fair, it was the first time that a minister of the government had even attended the event. In the old days, no sensible minister wanted to be associated with the private sector and Meghji displayed her characteristic courage in coming out strongly in support of this sector.
The minister’s support for the private sector, and her call for increased public sector cooperation, is very much in line with current Tanzanian government thinking.
Increasingly, the Tanzanian government is pulling out of productive and commercial activities to concentrate on maintaining law and order and creating the economic and regulatory framework to allow the private sector to operate.
In tourism this is evidenced by the recent sale of five of Tanzania Hotel Investment (TAHI) lodges to the private sector. The building of these lodges showed the governments commitment to tourism long before the private sector realized the area’s rich potential.
But now the lodges (two in the Serengeti, another at Ngorongoro, a fourth at Lake Manyara and the last on Mafia Island) have fallen into disrepair, the government has no money to bring them up to international standards that it has recognized the private sector will do this as well as marketing them.
Evidence of Tanzania potential in tourism is abundant. In 1995, the tourism sector supported 96,000 direct and indirect jobs. By 2002, this figure had climbed to 157,200 placing tourism among the top sectors of the country insofar as employment is concerned.
Tourism also accounted for 16 percent of gross domestic product and almost 25 percent of total export earnings. From 1995 to 2003, tourism receipts grew from US$259 million to US$731 million with an annual growth rate of 10 percent. In 2010, Tanzania is hoping to have over one million tourists.
Beyond these bare statistics, Tanzania hosts the largest number of species of animals and birds found in any one country on the African continent.
The Serengeti, Ngorongoro, Kilimanjaro, Zanzibar and the Selous are all in Tanzania, where parliament has set aside over 28 percent of its one million square km for conservation.
However, getting the public and private sectors to work meaningfully together beyond the government’s words and Tanzania’s obvious attractions will prove yet another challenge. Education, not words, is needed to remove past stigmas.
(SARDC)
