TANZANIA: SINCE Tanzania is described as one of Africa’s fastest growing economies, the issue of improving infrastructure that will stimulate economic growth and development in general is inevitable.
All of that can only be attained by establishing a long-term vision and a plan for achieving it.
Currently, Tanzania is in the process of preparing the National Vision 2050.
The National Development Vision 2050 represents an ambitious blueprint designed to guide the country’s socioeconomic development over the next three decades.
The overarching objective of the vision is to facilitate the transformation of the country into a middle- income country, characterised by inclusive growth, sustainable development and an enhanced quality of life for all its citizens.
According to the Ministry of Planning and Investment, the process of preparing vision 2050 focus on answering three main questions, the kind of Tanzania we want by the year 2050, the kind of Tanzanian society we want by the year 2050 and the kind of nation we wish to have by 2050.
Addressing the public recently when officiating over the third conference on the preparation of national Development Vision 2050 for the northern regions, the Minister of State, President’s Office (Planning and Investment) Professor Kitila Mkumbo outlined the reason behind involving Tanzanians’ views in the process of formulating the vision, including ensuring all Tanzanians have a national consensus on what they want.
“This vision we are preparing is the National Vision. The nation means people,” Professor Kitila said.
Adding: “Thus, it is important for us to get people’s views, advice and suggestions from as wide as possible in formulating the content of our vision.”
Prof Mkumbo further said that the government believes that every Tanzanian has ideas to contribute in the vision, which is the main basis for traveling around the country to collect the opinion of all Tanzanians.
However, Prof Mkumbo said that involvement of the citizens is part of the implementation of President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s directives to ensure that the process includes the citizens.
“The process of preparing the vision should be inclusive and collaborative and ensure all key stakeholders participate in the process. The expert team should consider the comments of stakeholders in formulating the next vision,” President Samia directed
President Samia issued the directives last year in Dodoma when she officially launched the process of gathering public views that will be used in writing an initial draft for National Development Vision 2050.
The Head of State directed the team to come up with a document which stresses national integrity.
President Samia added that the new vision should serve as a roadmap that propels Tanzania into an all- inclusive economy nation and an industrialised country.
In her speech, President Samia also said the vision should encompass key areas such as infrastructure, agriculture, education, health and technology, among others.
According to statistics revealed two weeks ago by the President’s Office (Planning and Investment), over 1,200,000 views have been collected through various opinion-gathering platforms, including social media, websites and others such as mobile phones and physical outreach.
However, more than 7,790 households throughout the country have been able to contribute their views.
Prof Mkumbo continues to explain that since independence, the country has undergone several stages of transition due to different reasons, including the collapse of the East African Community in 1977, war against Idd Amin of Uganda 1978/79 and the rise in world oil prices in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
“This circumstance, along with the spread of globalisation, forced the nation to change the methods of running the economy from a monopolistic economy and gradually unleash market potential,” Prof Mkumbo adds.
Adding: “This environment led the preparation of 2025 vision, the implementation of which began in 2000 and will end next year.”
Prof Mkumbo also says the assessment conducted by the Economic and Social Research Foundation (ESRF) on the implementation of the 2025 vision shows that Tanzania has made progress in many areas as articulated in the vision.
“Most economic indicators were stable throughout the implementation of the vision, including the economy growing at an average of six per cent and inflation remaining in the policy range of less than 5 per cent,” he stresses.
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He also adds that social services such as education, health, water and electricity among others have been increased and improved throughout the execution of the vision.
“For example, food sufficiency has increased from 90 per cent in 2000 to 124 per cent in 2022, compared to a target of attaining 130 per cent by 2025,” Prof Mkumbo points out.
He further says despite the success achieved in the implementation of the vision that ends next year, the country is still facing various challenges, including climate change whereby through the new vision the country will be able to plan its strategies and address the challenges
Quoting Vice President Dr Philip Mpango in one of his speeches during the opening of the first conference to gather views for the preparation of the Vision 2050, Mkumbo says the vice president said “The effects of climate change have also persisted in posing a threat to the progress we have attained, and it is estimated that we may lose one to two percent of the National GDP by 2030 if we do not take immediate action to address these challenges.”
