TEMDO designs sugar plant for medium entrepreneurs

ARUSHA: THE Tanzania Engineering and Manufacturing Design Organisation (TEMDO) has designed and manufactured a sugarcane processing plant capable of producing sugar at a scale suitable for medium-sized entrepreneurs.

The initiative is expected to help reduce the country’s sugar shortage while providing sugarcane farmers with a reliable market.

Speaking yesterday in Arusha during a visit by the Deputy Minister for Industry and Trade, Mr Dennis Londo, TEMDO Director General, Prof Frederick Kahimba, said the organisation has so far received six applications from medium-sized entrepreneurs seeking to establish plants in Dodoma, Same, Manyara, Busega, Kilosa and Morogoro Regions.

Prof Kahimba said the evaluation of the applications will begin soon, with installation for the first entrepreneur who meets the required criteria expected to start between May and June this year, before rolling out to other regions.

“We aim to align our work with the National Development Vision 2050 by producing machines that address farmers’ challenges and enable them to access reliable markets. We ask the government to support us, particularly when farmers begin sugar production, so they can fully benefit from their crops,” he said.

He added that the project will help bridge the sugar production gap in the country while increasing the value of sugarcane for small- and medium-scale farmers.

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However, Prof Kahimba noted that TEMDO continues to face challenges in penetrating regional markets within the East African Community and the Southern African Development Community (SADC), despite manufacturing key products such as hospital hazardous waste incinerators.

Meanwhile, Deputy Minister Londo urged the organisation to keep pace with technological advancements by expanding the production of machinery and equipment that support citizens and entrepreneurs in economic recovery and growth.

It is your responsibility to ensure that the machinery you produce keeps pace with technological advancements so as to enable citizens and entrepreneurs to overcome poverty.

I want to see TEMDO promoting industrial development by manufacturing a wide range of machinery across all regions of the country,” he said.

He stressed the importance of the Ministry of Industry and Trade working closely with various institutions, both locally and internationally, including the Ministry of Regional Administration and Local Government (RALG), to ensure that locally developed technologies reach the market and create greater economic opportunities for farmers and entrepreneurs.

The Assistant Director of the Ministry’s Policy and Planning Department, Audax Bahweitama, said the government aims to achieve an inclusive economy through industries by producing competitive and quality products in the market, as outlined in the National Development Vision 2050.