Tanzania is said to be one of the poorest
countries in the world whereby much of the population lives on less than
a dollar a day. Yet if this is looked at from an entrepreneurial angle,
it means there are unimaginable opportunities waiting to be explored and
perhaps exploited. The country has entered a particularly interesting
stage of its development where government policy, multi-lateral assistance
and private sector participation are all key elements that are working
together to make progress.
Information Communications Technologies (ICT) have been acknowledged
as a unifying factor, which can also create an intensifying
effect in the socio-economic development of a country. The
Tanzanian Government has taken bold steps in encouraging the
use of ICT in the country as exemplified by the zero-rating
of taxes in importation of computers and related equipment.
The intention is to make ICT equipment affordable to the people
of Tanzania and their businesses in a bid to aid them into
the new knowledge economy.
Another giant leap forward into the knowledge economy by Tanzania
is the National ICT Policy last year. The policy formulation
process, which started in 1999, has now moved a gear up into
an implementation mode with sectoral master-plans being developed
by sector Ministries. The policy gives clear guidelines of
the Governments role of ICT in relation to its stated objectives.
More specifically the policy addresses the issues of how to
make ICT an enabler of the Tanzania Development Vision 2025,
which among others things advocate for a re-engineering process
in Tanzania. The Vision 2025 calls for the nurturing of a developmental
mindset and empowering culture, competence and competitiveness
and good governance and the rule of law.
A study conducted by UNDP, the Dar es Salaam Institute of
Technology and the Institute of African affairs based in Hamburg
Germany, showed that most of the ICT activity in Tanzania is
concentrated in Dar es Salaam, this tendency is also apparent
when one studies the who is who database. For ICT to be an
enabler of development in the country, there is need for a
deliberate effort to expand ICT activities and services from
Dar es Salaam into all regions that comprise Tanzania. Already,
there is some activity happening in some regions, particularly
in Mwanza, Moshi and Arusha, reflecting the relatively high
industrial development in those towns.
Another survey by Miller, Esselaar and Associates estimates
the ICT industry in Tanzania to be between US$ 300 - 350 million
with the Tanzania Telecommunication Company Limited accounting
for close to 50% of it. The overall growth rate is estimated
at 25% per annum. The business sector and the government have
been identified as the largest ICT customers accounting to
about 49% of the total ICT spend. This means a public-private
sector partnership can easily entrench ICT into the development
process of the country.
The role of ICT in development cannot be over emphasized.
Probably the place to start will be to take stock of the achivements
made so far and then chart a common strategy to institutionalize
ICT in Tanzania's development activities. This process, as
stated above has to be an all-inclusive initiative with heavy
involvement of the Government and the private sector.
Information and Communication Technology (ICT)