Africa Guardian

30th November 2021, Pilot 4 Research and Dialogue project organised a virtual dialogue on “Moving Towards a Green Economy in Tanzania.” The debate was apt and timely, coming amidst power outages and water rationing in east Africa second-largest economy and the region’s food basket.

 The event had representatives from the central government, civil society, academia, media and donors, and one thing was clear, it was essential to accelerating the “greenisation” of Tanzania’s economy. From the proceedings, it is possible to construct a roadmap to the “greenisation” of Tanzania’s economy.

A participant, Fred Kwezi, Chief Executive for the Alliance for Sustainable Protection and Environment Conservational in Tanzania (ASPECT) called on investors in Tanzania to stop seeing the Environmental Management Act of 2004, explicitly conducting Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), as a hindrance to development.   

Compliance would go a long way to highlight significant issues towards the green economy and sustainability issues. The point of green infrastructure came up during the debate about how we do a green economy in the mire of poverty for a significant part of the population. The discussion can be viewed here. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lMY-rNmvjvg.)

Here I will concentrate on the book under review, launched during the event. It can best be classified under the business environment genre in economics. The authors touch on the economic, social, political, legal and technological environment and climate change, which are determinants of forward, stagnant or backward economic development.  

The book’s ending is that “The country is at a crossroad,” which could mean Tanzania is at a point where crucial all-around business environment decisions must be made, as we advance, one way or the other.

The title of the book, “learning from Resilience Strategies in Tanzania: An outlook of International Development Challenges,” handly points out the rich analytical knowledge and original thinking it contains from diverse authors in diverse disciplines. It puts Tanzania’s economic perspective and situation into a microscopic lens for policymakers, business leaders, and other country actors interested in learning and collimating the future.

The book is classified into 3 parts, socio-economic realities and impacts (1); resilience to global challenges and to climate change (2) and the role of women between vulnerability and resilience (3). It has a lengthy introduction and 12 chapters. Collectively, the book is written by 16 authors, with a collective experience of over three hundred years!

In the introduction, Dr Pascaline Gaborit adopts the ever hopeful African flute, where the spirit of resilience is an everyday affair despite the daily despair and unpredictability of tomorrow. The music of life goes on and on without an end. I think in her mind, she travelled all the way to Tanzania and managed to capture vital nuggets, she shares in the book, for posterity of Tanzania and the world. 

In Africa, including Tanzania, hope is one of the best currencies. If it was the current world currency, we could be somewhere on the front page, as the “haves.” In the face of COVID 19, Tanzania’s resilience has been a case study for the rest of the world, a paradox, perplexing yet inspiring. 

For Dr Pascaline, Tanzania is of particular interest in research on resilience strategies and how the nation has been addressing its transformation needs. The book advocates for resilience, including putting up resilience infrastructure, but cautions that this should not replace assistance or early warning systems.

Dr Olomi, in the introductory, partakes us in the funnel of history, up to where Tanzania is today, in the age of Covid- 19 pandemic. Despite practising different models of economics(policies), lots of ups and downs, Tanzania economy has proved resilient. Yes, in good and bad times, but businesses had to “navigate in precarious environments.”

One of the essential entry-level businesses in most towns across Tanzania and Africa, is petty traders, howkers or other given names. In Dar es Salaam, they are called ‘Machingas’ or the marching guys. They form a significant part of the informal economy, which the third to 6th phase governments of Tanzania have been working hard to formalise. The informal sector in Tanzania, which in terms of the number of people it “employs’ is possibly the most significant sector.

The book addresses the socio-economic realities and impacts of such citizenry in its first part. Prof William Amos Pallangy, writing about “Informal Workers in Tanzania: Coping Strategies and Resilience Factors” in chapter 1, notes how COVID- 19 pandemic “has triggered unemployment and underemployment for many informal workers.” 

In Tanzania’s de facto business capital Dar es Salaam, informal workers (petty traders) account for around 75 % of all jobs. Covid led them to suffer disrupted livelihoods, with loss of income, lack of capital and failure to feed families.

 Prof William concludes by noting that “Informal workers are more hit by the COVID- 19 pandemic than formal workers, with resultant effects having repression on the economy.  

Despite all the odds, the resilient “marching guys” even in the face of the current situation, where they have been prohibited in doing businesses in undesignated areas, life continues. 

Academically speaking, we might call their survival resilience, but to them, it is a day for a day, and tomorrow will come or not come. Sorry, it is me, talking here not Prof William. 

Prof William study notes that the government should review tax policies to accommodate the needs of the majority of informal workers and at the same time come up with a system that would strengthen income support to informal workers, among other things. If only policymakers could extract some information from Prof Willam’s paper…yes, if only….

Watch this space for the review of the rest of the 12 chapters. Each chapter is a granny of knowledge, with strong and weak points, but pivotal for studying economics for academia and policy-making purposes. For the business communities, the book identifies many problems and challenges, which can be turned into world-class business opportunities.

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