Mr Nathan Belete, the World Bank (WB) Country Director for Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia, and Zimbabwe, has praised the government's initiative to promote the private sector.
He expressed optimism that if the country maintains its current pace, Tanzania's economic growth rate will increase from the current 4% to 6%.
According to Belete, programs that focus on building and strengthening energy generation projects, transportation, storage, infrastructure, and education improvement are promising further growth.
This positive outlook comes a few days after President Dr. Samia Suluhu Hassan's efforts to invite foreign investors, open up borders, and pioneer economic diplomacy with different nations. These efforts have enabled Tanzania to attract investors in different areas like mining, agriculture, and tourism. Belete made these remarks during a monthly meeting of the CEO Roundtable of Tanzania (CEOrt), which was discussing Tanzania's Outlook from a World Bank perspective.
That the government's initiative, which includes regulatory reforms and policy issues, will attract more investment and trade and catalyze the private sector's growth, which is an engine of growth. He assured the government of the World Bank's readiness to continue its close relationships with Tanzania through technical and financial support in areas that sharpen the human capital needed to drive up the economy positively.
David Tarimo, CEOrt Chairperson, highlighted the challenges for private growth discussed during the monthly meetings, including policy formulations, regulatory frameworks, and tax regimes. Members suggested ways of moving forward to the government to address them. These discussions have established areas of improvement for attaining a robust economy driven by a strong private sector.
The World Bank Tanzania Economic Update (TEU) released last month forecasts that Tanzania's economy will expand by 5.3 percent in 2023, which is above the Sub-Saharan Africa's average growth of 3.6%.