Living outside Tanzania? Woo investors back home

TANZANIA: AS Tanzanians living and working outside the country continue to be patriotic and remembering to send home some money to their families, one thing worth praising is that in 2022, they brought home 1.1 billion US dollars (equivalent to 2.6 tri/-), implying that they are another ‘workforce’ to reckon with in terms of raising the economy of the country.

It is good that the government has shown concern to design a special system that would identify them (Tanzanians in diaspora) and with that in mind, we should reach a point, where we directly involve them in local projects, which finally go back to developing their ancestral regions, because in most cases, this is a workforce that is educated, well-informed and exposed enough in terms of development.

As such, the actual number of Tanzanians in diaspora should be known as the country encourages more citizens to think outside the box in terms of landing in plum jobs outside the country.

Equally, as they are being encouraged to invest back home, we should also mobilize the workforce to be our ambassadors wherever they are, in the sense of wooing also other foreign investors to give priority to Tanzania that has all potentials an investor would dream of.

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In recognising Tanzanians living abroad as well as the jobs they do and the types of skills they have, we should reach a point where they also have a say on how their feelings, opinions and ideas should be incorporated in the day to day affairs of developing the economy of the country.

For instance, while the global economy was going through one of the worst crises in 2021 at the height of the COVID-induced economic recession, their remittances proved to be a reliable source of foreign currency that helped support the local economies.

We must all accept that remittances from the African diaspora are crucial in supporting household expenses in many developing countries, but the high cost of sending money remains a significant hindrance to inflows.

This is a workforce we cant not take for granted, because their remittances also represent a source of livelihood for many families.

On a global scale, 200 million migrant workers send money home every year, and 800 million people (in households of four, on average) benefit from these flows.

While remittances sent only represent 15 per cent of what migrants earn, what they send represent up to 60 per cent of a household’s total income – extending a lifeline for millions of families.

Data further indicate that over 50 per cent of remittances are sent to households in rural areas, which further cements the role remittances play in the socioeconomic development of emerging economies.

With this in mind, we encourage all Tanzanians living (or would be living) abroad to preach to the outside world that this is the country that has all an investor would need and above all- security of their businesses will be guaranteed in the vast peaceful market spanning the East Africa and Southern African Development Community blocs.