PPPC stresses human capital investment

MWANZA: TANZANIA must invest significantly in high-quality human capital to effectively propel economic growth and empower the private sector as a primary driver of the national economy.

Executive Director of the Public-Private Partnership Centre (PPPC), Mr David Kafulila said this over the weekend in Mwanza during a one-day academic forum on public-private partnerships (PPP).

Mr Kafulila underscored the vital role of the private sector in implementing the National Vision 2050, a long-term development strategy recently launched by President Dr Samia Suluhu Hassan.

“This vision belongs to the people, not the government. It is a national vision. President Samia becomes the second Head of State to guide the country in formulating and officially launching a 25-year vision, following in the footsteps of President Benjamin Mkapa,” he explained.

Mr Kafulila said the 2050 vision aims at building a one trillion-dollar economy by 2050, pointing out that currently, there are only 19 countries worldwide in what is known as the “trillion-dollar club.”

“These are the countries with the largest economies in the world,” he said.

He noted that for Tanzania to reach such economic stature, she must put in significant effort, noting that no African country has achieved that level of economic strength.

“The largest economy in Africa today is South Africa, with an economy worth nearly 400 billion dollars. So, building a one trillion-dollar economy means creating an economy two and a half times larger than South Africa’s current economy,” he explained.

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According to Mr Kafulila, anyone interested in understanding the scale of such an economy should scan South Africa’s infrastructure like railways, roads and power supply as a reference point for what it means to build an economy twice that size.

“That is the task ahead of us as a country,” he noted. He emphasised that this is why the private sector and other development stakeholders must recognise the ambitious goals Tanzania has set in its national vision.

“But having big goals doesn’t mean they’re impossible; it just means we need to do more than we’ve done before,” he added.

Mr Kafulila stressed that Tanzanians and development stakeholders must adopt new ways of thinking and go beyond traditional approaches in pursuing development and economic growth.

“Our goal in implementing the vision is ambitious, but it has already been done elsewhere. We’re also aiming to achieve a per capita income of 7,000 dollars annually,” he explained.

On his part, Chairman of the Research and Education for Democracy in Tanzania (REDET), Professor Rwekaza Mukandala, said the launch of Vision 2050 requires Tanzanians to run instead of walk, echoing the late Mwalimu Julius Nyerere’s call for Tanzanians to run in order to fully participate in building the economy.

He emphasised that the goals in Vision 2050 are significant and cannot be achieved through traditional or routine means.

“That is why the launch of Vision 2050 demands that we run while others in the world are walking. That’s also the reason we are here today to collectively think about how we can contribute to this vision,” Prof Mukandala explained.

Presenting a paper on the role of PPPs in promoting investment and efficiency in local government operations, Dr Jasinta Msamula from Mzumbe University said citizens are the backbone of local governments, which serve as a bridge between them and the central government.

She urged Tanzanians to abandon the habit of complaining without contributing to the country’s economy by producing, stressing that no country can develop without its people actively participating in production activities.

Speaking at the forum, Ambassador Prof Adelardus Kilangi observed that discussing socialism nowadays might seem unconventional, as such ideologies are often considered outdated.

“But I believe we need to revive political economy and analysis, because political economy is about the relationship between politics, economics and the law,” he elaborated.