Five-year research to up economic inclusiveness
DAR ES SALAAM: AS Tanzania’s economic growth remains steadily impressive, country’s economists will embark on a five-year research programme that would make productive sectors inclusive, therefore enhancing economic inclusiveness.
Dubbed ‘a 5-year Research Programme on Structural Transformation & Trajectory in Tanzania’ it will be launched in Dar es Salaam during the 27th Annual Research Workshop.
The workshop has been organised by the Policy Research for Development (REPOA), Bank of Tanzania (BoT), Gatsby Africa and President’s Office (Investment and Planning).
Speaking at a press conference on Monday in Dar es Salaam, REPOA’s Executive Director Dr Donald Mmari pointed out that the research programme will make the productive sectors such as agriculture, manufacturing and mining create more employments for Tanzanians.
“When these sectors become inclusive by employing many people means that the economy will also become more inclusive,” Dr Mmari argued.
Though there is fear that the coming of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and the use of robots will replace labour power in production sectors, Dr Mmari argued that such technologies will create more jobs in other areas.
“For instance, when the manufacturing sector increases production due to adoption of the advanced technology, means that more raw materials would be needed to feed the industries, so more jobs would be created in agriculture,” he pointed out, noting that therefore the country would need to strengthen skills among the youth to tap opportunities in agriculture.
On his part, Country Director of the Gatsby Africa, Mr Samweli Kilua, was also of the view that despite that the AI comes with challenge of replacing human labour as most works would be done by machines, for Africa that may occur in the next 25 or 30 years.
“So, this agenda of increasing employments in productive sectors is still valid because we believe that most of jobs would still be carried out by humans,” Mr Kilua stated.
He explained that the programme will mainly focus on how to accelerate structural transformation of the economy and improve outcomes, that is inclusive, competitive and productivity-led economic growth.
Tanzania has experienced rapid and sustained economic growth, which culminated in its reclassification from low-income to lower-middle-income in July 2020.
When assessed at the global level, Tanzania’s economic growth performance has also been impressive.
Despite its relatively high productivity, manufacturing in Tanzania is still relatively small as a share of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) having remained stagnant at eight per cent in the last 31 years.
Therefore, in response to the increasing need for accelerating the desired structural transformation of the economy, the forthcoming workshop aims at provoking and promoting policy dialogue and contextualised research on how to accelerate structural transformation of the economy.
Themed: ‘Galvanising Sustainable and Inclusive Growth Through Structural Transformation’ the workshop will take a closer look at the opportunities for sustainably enhancing productive capacities.
The workshop will also sharpen strategies for effective participation in the global value chains and options for strategic linkages to enhance transformational competitiveness in agriculture, industries and other sectors.
