DAR ES SALAAM: TANZANIA leads in tourism services exports, contributing more than half of the region’s export earnings with 3.4 billion US dollars (about 8.97tri/- ) last year, up from 2.6 billion US dollars (about 6.86tri/-) in 2019 among East African countries.
This was said by the EABC Acting Executive Director, Mr Adrian Njau, in Dar es Salaam yesterday when highlighting the 2nd edition of the East African Business Council (EABC) Barometer on Trade in Services in the East African Community (EAC) launched in September this year.
Mr Njau said during the sensitisation workshop of private sector on African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) on trade in services to transport stakeholders that EAC region is the net exporter of services.
“This growth for Tanzania and the region highlights tourism’s vital role in generating foreign exchange, creating jobs and driving infrastructure development,” he said.
As a key source of revenue, tourism helps diversify region’s economy, reducing reliance on traditional sectors like agriculture and mining, and strengthening its regional economic standing.
He said Tanzania is also the leading importer of tourism services at 394.2 million US dollars (1.04tri/-), a decrease from 651.5 million US dollars (1.72tri/-) in 2019.
The region as whole, he noted, exported travel services worth 6.3 billion US dollars (16.62tri/-) last year against 1.2 billion US dollars (3.16tri/- ) imports.
The workshop focused on two sectors namely tourism and travel related services and transport services due to their significance to EAC economies.
They covered personal and business travel, travel accommodation, food services and other tourism related services. He said further that the workshop aimed at informing tourism and export stakeholders that East African countries have agreed to liberalise the sectors, enabling companies to expand beyond the EAC region.
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He said that Tanzania dominates export of transport services with 2.4 billion US dollars (6.33tri/-), which is about 52 per cent of EAC exports against Kenya’s 1.8 billion US dollars (4.74tri/-), which is 39 per cent of total EAC exports.
“Tanzania’s potential for export of transport services is immesurable as is land linked with other eight countries of which most of them are land linked nations,” he stated.
The countries are namely Burundi, Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Malawi, Zambia, Mozambique and Kenya. He said Tanzania can boost its transport export services to these countries by enhancing its transport, transit, port and trade facilitating services and making its transport corridors more efficient and competitive.
As a region, he noted, EAC is the net importer of transport services with last year value rising to 5.6 billion US dollars against exports worth 4.6 billion US dollars.
According to him, Tanzania and Kenya are next exporters of transport services and the rest in the region are net importers. This directly results from the two countries using port advantages and landlinked nature of the other partner states.
