Dr Norga Komba calls for Development Beyond Project Completion

CHINA: “Tanzania should assess development not only by the number of projects completed, but also by how those projects improve peoples lives, says” Dr Komba.

Dr Komba, a member of the CCM Political Committee in China, said infrastructure completion and expenditure of allocated funds should be assessed alongside improvements in services, livelihoods and economic opportunities.

“The fundamental issue is to move away from the mindset that ‘the project has been completed’ and embrace one that asks whether ‘the desired results have been achieved’,” she noted.

She argues that projects should be accompanied by clearly defined targets, measurable outcomes, timelines and mechanisms for monitoring and accountability.

Dr Komba also stresses the importance of creating stronger channels through which citizens can communicate their experiences and concerns to the government.

“Listening to citizens does not mean that every request will be implemented immediately. It means that the government has a system for receiving views, assessing them, incorporating them into its priorities and providing feedback,” she added.

Such two-way communication, he argues, would allow public institutions to better understand the realities facing communities and adjust policies and services accordingly.

“A citizen has the right to see what is being done, to ask what is missing and to demand better services,” she says.

In the health sector, Tanzania has expanded access to services, with about 80 to 85 percent of the population able to reach health facilities within five kilometres.

The number of facilities providing newborn care also increased from 14 in 2018 to 438 in 2025.

But Dr Komba notes that infrastructure alone cannot be regarded as the final measure of progress.

She points to continuing challenges involving the quality of care, availability of medicines and equipment, shortage of health professionals, access to specialist services and congestion at some facilities.

A similar approach, she says, should be applied to education.

Under the EP4R programme, 1,338 schools have benefited from construction and rehabilitation involving classrooms, dormitories, toilets, laboratories and libraries.

But the impact of such investment must also be assessed through learning outcomes, teacher-pupil ratios, availability of teaching materials, digital skills, vocational training and the ability of graduates to secure employment or create their own livelihoods.

Data from the Tanzania Communications Regulatory Authority showed that the number of internet users had reached 54.1 million by the fourth quarter of the 2024/25 financial year.

Dr Komba says the growth of internet access must now be matched by investment in digital skills, entrepreneurship and the ability to develop products and services capable of serving both domestic and international markets.

She cautions against viewing employment solely through the lens of government recruitment.

“Government employment is one way of earning an income, but skills, innovation and entrepreneurship can enable a young person to become an employer of others,” she says.

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She advises young people to identify problems that need solving, acquire relevant skills, understand their markets and start on a manageable scale while making effective use of finance, technology and marketing.

Agriculture, vocational skills, technology and small businesses, she says, can all provide pathways into productive economic activity.

Dr Komba says development should be understood as an ongoing process rather than something that is ever fully completed.

Tanzania’s growing population and economy, he says, mean that citizens’ expectations and needs will continue to evolve.

She also argues that criticism from citizens should not automatically be interpreted as opposition to the government.

Instead, public scrutiny can provide an opportunity for institutions to identify shortcomings, improve services and strengthen accountability.

The priority for the next phase, he says, should be to increase productive capacity and broaden economic opportunities by aligning education and skills with the needs of agriculture, industry and other sectors, while improving access to finance, technology and markets.

She says the business environment must also become more predictable, fair and supportive, while unnecessary barriers are reduced and public institutions strengthened.

For young people with skills, access to capital and technology, a supportive business environment and functioning markets, the opportunity is not merely to seek employment but to become contributors to the national economy.

The central question, Dr Komba says, is how Tanzania can create conditions that enable young people to access decent jobs, develop viable businesses and contribute productively to the national economy.