General budget support

In Tanzania aid accounts for more than 40% of the national budget. Several European countries have been sending their aid money straight into the government’s treasury and not for specific projects. The approach is called ’general budget support’. Proponents of that system say that it forces the government to be accountable to its people and also argue it’s the only way to phase out aid dependence in countries like Tanzania. However, they also advocate that taxes must be raised so they can take over from aid as financing.

Allison Dempster on Africa Files reviews the case for this kind of aid to Tanzania.

Donors and sponsors to the School of St Jude can tie their funds to something specific by sponsoring a child or a bus or a classroom, or they can donate to general funds and give the school administrators the flexibility to apply the funds where needed most.

Donor countries like Sweden and Norway are helping Tanzania grow its administrative capacities by donating to general budget support which Allison describes as

To hear its fans describe it, budget support is the Tom Hanks of foreign aid concepts - ordinary looking, but turns in solid performance most of the time. A no-name’brand approach to international aid, if
you will.

Interesting, yes?

Financial Times reviews Tanzania

In a recent article, the Financial Times gives a good overview of trends in Tanzanian development. It asks the question that many ask – why does Tanzania languish in poverty, given the natural resources and foreign aid it has received?

They note that Tanzania is

Rich in farm land, mineral resources and wildlife, it is free of tribal tensions and has experienced a series of peaceful transitions of power, thanks to a sense of unity forged by Julius Nyerere, its founding father. It also has a stable macro-economic environment and its administration is relatively well-organised: the principal achievements of Benjamin Mkapa, who ruled from 1995 to 2005.

The article notes that the current government's biggest achievement

. . . has probably been the introduction of universal primary education: more schools have been built in the past 18 months than in the previous 20 to 30 years, say officials, although there are now not enough teachers.

And they comment that

. . . In the United Nations' human development index, which measures standards of living and health as well as education, Tanzania has barely moved.

The following statistics reveal the depth of Tanzanian poverty.

According to the last national household survey, conducted in 2000-01, almost one in five people was receiving less than the minimum calorie requirements. More recent government research showed two-thirds of mainland households did not have access to piped water and 89 per cent were without electricity. The country's adult HIV/Aids infection rate is 6.5 per cent and in some regions hits 15 to 20 per cent.

In her 2007-08 budget speech, Zakia Hamdani, the finance minister, said the resources needed for the implementation of the previous administration's growth and poverty reduction strategy - known as Mkukuta - "were immensely large compared with the resources available".

Zakia Hamdani

One explanation for the lack of economic development is the culture of corruption that affects all levels of life in Tanzania. Gemma's book, St Jude's, describes some of her encounters with corrupt practices.

The Financial Times report notes that

Critics contend that Tanzania lacks political accountability, which means people in power are isolated from the masses. One manifestation of the problem is corruption. Suspicions of high-level graft were stoked by several multimillion-dollar projects that pre-dated the Kikwete era: the acquisition of a presidential jet; the building of a new Bank of Tanzania headquarters; and the purchase of a military radar system from BAE Systems. No wrongdoing, however, has been proved.

The current government seems to be ready to tackle corruption to some extent, and several high-ranking members of the dominant political party, CCM, have been arrested on corruption charges Mr Kikwete says: "If people want to get into leadership through corrupt practices, through corrupt means, I think that's detestable. We have to take action."

A bright spot is the increasing force shown by Tanzanian newspapers, which have become increasingly aggressive in their reporting. The number and prominence of civil society organisations is growing.

As I have mentioned before, donor countries are becoming tougher by tying their funds to improvements in anti-corruption practices. The Financial Times article quotes a Norwegian embassy official as noting the intent to take a firmer line on corruption.

Inch by inch, improvements are becoming evident.



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Baked green bananas and hot tamarind sauce

Here's Miriam's (Rose Kinunda) great website that features recipes for Tanzanian food.

You can find a recipe and get a taste of home, remember your visit to Tanzania, or experiment with something you've never tasted before. Recipes are in English as well as Swahili.


Hmmm... 'bananas and tamarind sauce' has caught my eye – now I know what to do with that jar of tamarind paste that is sitting in my cupboard.

Hot tamarind sauce.
•1/2 cup Natural tamarind paste,
•Salt
•1 tsp hot peppers (reduce amount of pepper if you can’t handle spicy food)
•Water (if needed)

Check it out. I'm going to try the pilau next.

Happy cooking!

Capacity-building in the education sector

IRIN reports that education experts have welcomed the Tanzanian government's pledge to hire more teachers in the 2007-2008 financial year to improve the quality of education in the country.

The government allocated 18 percent of this year's budget to education and announced plans to hire more teachers in June.

On 11 July, Education Minister Margaret Sitta told a parliamentary session in Dodoma, the country's political capital, that the government would employ 14,490 primary and secondary school teachers to raise standards. She also said

Permits will also be issued by the government for about 600 expatriate teachers for privately owned primary and secondary schools.

Since free primary education was introduced in 2002, the Government has focused on improving the quality basic education in the country.

Ministry of Education records show that enrolment in primary schools increased from 4,839,361 in 2001 to 7,969,884 in 2006. This raised the net enrolment ratio in primary schools from 65.5% in 2001 to 96.1% in 2006.

This means that nearly all the children of primary school age are now enrolled in primary schools.

Pressure on secondary schools

The increased enrolment in primary schools has put more pressure on secondary schools to absorb those completing primary education. Enrolment in form one, the first year of secondary education, increased from 99,744 in 2003 to 243,359 in 2006.

Suleiman Sumra, a retired professor of education and researcher with Hakielimu, an NGO dealing with educational issues, said that while it was important to expand schools and enrol more pupils, the question of teachers should also be tackled.

When you cannot have everything and trade-offs have to be made, priority should be given to teachers over buildings.

During a debate on the education ministry's budgetary estimates, legislators praised the government's efforts to build primary and secondary schools over the past 10 years. However, they expressed concern over the shortage of competent teachers and teaching aids, as well as inadequate laboratories and libraries, especially in rural areas.

One legislator, Ponsiano Nyami, gave an example of a secondary school in his constituency with only one teacher - the headmaster. This teacher was forced to use the school's head-prefect as deputy and to carry out administrative duties, such as looking after visitors.

Teachers enjoy working at St Jude's because class sizes are limited, they have excellent teaching resources and there is mentoring and staff training.

St Jude's senior staff and leader trainees

Supporters of the School of St Jude know that their donations are going where they are needed most – to one of the poorest countries that is struggling to give its children an education that can lift the whole country out of extreme poverty.


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European trade barriers are falling!

Switzerland is leading the way in removing tariffs and quotas on trade with Tanzania. At the same time, they are helping to build trade capacity within the country by funding local trade development programs.



These initiatives will help overcome two trade barriers –

• the restrictions of tariffs and quotas
• the barriers formed by food quality standards

This is part of the new wave of assistance and economic restructuring that will lift some African countries out of grinding poverty. This is the future that the kids at St Jude’s will inherit.

The Swiss government has removed all tariffs and quotas standing in the way of Tanzanian exports destined for Switzerland. The new regulations came into force in April 2007, and are expected to benefit a wide range of Tanzanian businesses trading in products such as flowers, cashew nuts and fish.

The capacity building programs include support to the cashew and coffee sectors at farmer level and assistance in boosting the processing sector for the crops, the aim being to increase the value of the exported products. Technical assistance is also being provided to the Tanzania Bureau of Standards to enhance its capacity for testing systems in line with internationally accepted standards, as it certifies potential export products.

A statement from the Swiss embassy in Tanzania noted:

The introduction of this zero duty initiative does not affect the requirement for Tanzanian exporters to satisfy Swiss product quality standards.

These measures show that Western countries now have a better understanding of the complexities of aid and economic development. Tariffs and quotas are not the only barriers to trade, so development aid is being given to build producer capacity and improve local governance so Tanzanian produce meets the requirements of European markets.

I hope to see a lot more initiatives like this over the coming months and years. We're seeing the will and the knowledge to make a difference at the individual level and at the systemic level.




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Flamingos or washing soda?

Oh-oh! The flamingos are in trouble.



New Scientist reports that the UK's Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB) is concerned that Lake Natron in Tanzania is about to be ruined by plans to build a factory on its shore.

Lake Natron is a shallow, saline lake covered with a crust of salt, and is home to more than 500,000 lesser flamingos during the summer. That's 75% of the world’s breeding population. The lake has also been the lesser flamingo's only nesting site in East Africa for 45 years.

According to the RSPB, an Indian company called TATA Chemicals has set its sights on Lake Natron's unusual waters and is planning to build a factory on its shore to pump the salty water and produce sodium carbonate (washing soda). The factory will be powered by a new coal-driven power station, and the developers also want to introduce a hybrid shrimp to the lake to increase the water's salinity.

Hmmmm... this sounds altogether not-good, right down to the coal powered electricity generation. The flamingo isn't just another little brown bird, or one of those small frogs that Australian conservationists get all excited about. It is one of the most amazing creatures on the planet!!

How can we value flamingos versus washing soda?

Now, that's a hard one!

Here is a Google Earth image showing Arusha, Lake Natron AND the location of the recent earthquakes (Ol Doinyo Lengai region – that's the little yellow triangle symbol on the left of the image – you can click on the image for a bigger version). The yellow line is the border with Kenya. Arusha is at the bottom, near the little yellow triangle signifying Mt Meru.

How is that for cartographic efficiency!!



UPDATE NOVEMBER 2007: The Tanzanian Government refused permission for the factory. It's good to see they have an eye on the long term benefit of environmental protection.

Tanzanian Bloggers Association

What’s this? A Tanzanian Bloggers Association?



Yes, indeed it is. And of course, I’ve joined – because my blog is so focused on Tanzania.

Most (almost all?) the blogs in the Association are in Swahili, so if you speak Swahili, you’ll find lots to interest you here.

I can't join the discussions of other Jumuwatas, but they've welcomed me into the world of Tanzanian blogging. Global Voices does an occasional roundup of topics on Tanzanian blogs, so I keep in touch that way. Here is the Global Voices interview with Jeff Msangi, one of the main Tanzanian bloggers.



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Tanzania's prize winning solar

Look who is winning international prizes! Zara Solar – providers of PV solar in Northern Tanzania.


Zara Solar has won the Ashden African Award for sustainable energy. Funded by British industry, the Ashden Awards are based on an annual competition to identify and reward organisations which have carried out truly excellent, practical, yet innovative schemes, demonstrating sustainable energy in action at a local level. Zara Solar's prize is worth (£30,000).

Zara Solar is cited as:

Zara Solar is the leading provider of solar PV in Northern Tanzania. Given that only 10% of the whole population and 2% of the rural population have access to the electricity grid in Tanzania, solar energy would seem to be an obvious alternative. However, the up front costs and the problems with providing technical support to more remote areas, limits its appeal.

Zara Solar has tackled this problem by selling high-quality, reliable systems at affordable prices and by creating a network of trained technicians that provide technical support to the more remote rural areas. Zara Solar and its sister company Mona-Mwanza Electrical & Electronics, have sold over 3,600 solar PV systems, directly benefiting over 18,000 people and this figure is expected to increase significantly over the coming year.

In order to reach yet more people, Zara Solar is exploring micro-finance packages that will allow customers to use the savings made from replacing kerosene, to pay back the cost of the system over time. From savings on kerosene alone, Zara Solar customers in the rural areas could easily pay back the cost of a PV system in less than two years if the right financing methods were available.

We all need encouragement, and encouragement that includes both recognition and money, is the best kind!

You will know from this blog about the difficulties the School of St Jude has had with electricity blackouts. They have had to buy big diesel generators to guarantee their electric supply. I wonder whether solar panels are an option for their new boarding facilities, or the new campus at Usa River? I wonder whether Zara Solar can help them? Perhaps the first priority is to get the new buildings up and running, and the solar power can come later.



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Wishlist

The School of St Jude in Arusha, Tanzania, relies on the support of enthusiastic Friends worldwide. Where ever possible, it tries to source local materials so that local businesses and livelihoods are supported. However, it publishes a wishlist of items that are either non-existent, poor quality or very expensive to buy locally.

Here's the latest wishlist. If you are travelling to Arusha, could you add some of these items to your suitcase?

• Headsets for computer classes
• Clear Contact for covering books - REALLY URGENT (10/07/07)
• Industrial pencil sharpeners - they must be really strong or they break quickly!
• Any good educational software to teach students Maths, World Geography, Science (our bandwith is so narrow we can't use the internet and need offline software)
• The latest Encarta and Encyclopedia Britannicus CDs
• Children’s Socks (age 7 -16 in navy, knee-length)

Do you like lists? Things seem to take on fresh meanings when they are lined up with neighbours. This odd assortment of items reflects the real efforts made at the School of St Jude as it tackles the goal of providing excellent education to bright children in a country that is starved of resources.

Even if you're not traveling to Tanzania, you might find a way to send the School one of these items.




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Bah Humbug! Building progress

Recently, I read an article in the LA Times that argued that Africa is doing just fine thank you very much. All is not doom and gloom because many African countries have good economic growth. The columnist argued that trade, not aid, is what Africa needs. I got impatient at the over-simplification of this discussion. It seems to me that both sides of the Aid vs Trade argument get over-simplified and people end up slanging off at each other.

So, for peace of mind, I turned my thoughts to the School of St Jude. Here is a project that depends on private aid and that makes a material difference to the lives of hundreds of families right now, while providing jobs and educating the future leaders of Tanzania.

How can this country grow without educated professionals? How can people who live in extreme poverty educate their children without the help of others? While Africa has entrepreneurs who are establishing mobile phone networks and selling minerals to China, it doesn’t have any entrepreneurs who are offering affordable (i.e. no cost) education to the poorest of the poor.

Bah Humbug! Leave them to their debates and take a look at this.

Foundations for three girl's houses

These pictures show progress on the building works for the weekday boarding facilities for over 300 boys and girls at the Moshono campus of the School of St Jude.

A foundation to last for generations

Generations of children will use this accommodation. This school will serve the local area through the coming generations of increasing prosperity. Perhaps at some time in the future, families will be able to afford school fees and will not depend on the consciences of people who live far away.

Columns to support the second floor

These buildings are solidly made, using local materials and local labour. This provides employment for people who can take pride in building their own future, while putting food on the table today.

Good, solid foundations and columns

The weekday boarding accommodation will be open by the end of 2007, ready to house children in 2008. What a change that will be for all the children, and the school. Instead of a two-hour trip to school, they will have a five-minute walk. Instead of trying to do secondary school homework in a two-room house with no electricity, they will have comfortable and safe study rooms and dormitories. At weekends they will spend time with their families.

It seems to me that the poverty in Africa is due to large influences, like geography, and systems of government that have not always been very effective, and trade rules that disadvantage some countries. Individuals suffer the effects of these large influences. Now the system is beginning to change and poor people in Tanzania have the hint of a chance of a better life for their children.

With our help, these children can step into a new future where they can contribute to the ongoing growth and development of this very poor country. So, don't get muddled by Trade vs Aid arguments – your support for the School of St Jude has no downside, only benefits at all levels.



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Tanzania recognised for good governance

Jeffrey Sachs has singled out Tanzania as one of the African countries that has benefited in recent years from good governance. He was speaking in connection with a United Nations push for a “Green Revolution” in Africa to help the continent build stable agricultural systems and rescue tens of millions of people from poverty.

The idea of a Green Revolution for Africa, inspired by a similarly named program that helped many Asian countries, especially India, out of underdevelopment in the 1970s, has been championed by former U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

Kofi Annan

At a joint news conference in Geneva, the three U.N. agencies said the African version should not copy the Asian experience but be based on African realities, focusing on small-scale farming and help in empowering women.

Over the past 15 years, according to the FAO, the number of hungry people in Africa has increased by 45 million to a total of 220 million -- around a third of the continent's population and one quarter of the world's under-nourished people.

Yields of maize and other staple cereals in Africa remained at under 1.0 tonne per hectare, about half average yields in Asia and Latin America.

The U.N. agencies said the main causes of food insecurity were weak institutions, insufficient investment in agriculture by national governments and donor countries, a harsh environment made worse by climate change, corruption and mismanagement.

At a separate news conference, the U.N. adviser and U.S. academic Jeffrey Sachs said Ghana, Tanzania, Madagascar and Malawi were among African countries which have benefited from good governance in past years, helping drive economic progress.

Sachs said problems arose because many decision-makers in donor nations "don't know the quality of governance that is emerging in many African countries".

The School of St Jude in northern Tanzania is contributing to the future good government of the country by giving bright children from poor families an excellent education based on good ethical standards. This well-run project is worthy of your support.


African Green Revolution – an excellent online resource about this initiative.




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MDG – Progress

A recent report from the UN shows progress on the Millennium Development Goals.

U.N. Secretary-General, Ban Ki-moon says recent statistics show the number of extremely poor people living on less than a dollar a day fell to 980 million in 2004. One-and-one-quarter billion people lived in extreme poverty in 1990. He says this achievement has been made despite a sharp increase in the total global population.

The share of children attending primary school has grown from 80 percent in 1990 to 88 percent in 2005," he said. "There has also been strong progress on child mortality because of focused interventions-on measles, TB, dysentery and malaria. I am very encouraged by these statistics.

The report finds South and South East Asia have made the most impressive reductions in extreme poverty. But, the poverty rate in Western Asia has more than doubled.

The report notes some progress is being made in other challenging regions. It says even sub-Saharan Africa is defying all predictions and is doing better than expected in cutting levels of poverty. It says the continent's poverty rate has fallen by nearly six percentage points since 2000.

Despite these gains, it says the poverty gap in sub-Saharan Africa remains the highest in the world. It says Africa urgently needs help in fighting HIV/AIDS, malaria and tuberculosis, as well as in basic medical care and education.

The U.N. Secretary General accuses developed countries of failing to live up to their commitments to provide adequate funding to help poor countries improve their situations.

The goals are achievable, I think, if countries commit themselves to sound governance and accountability and receive adequate financial and technical assistance from the developed countries. For developed countries, it is also very necessary, desirable to keep their commitment.

Mr. Ban says there has not been any significant increase in Official Development Assistance since 2004. He says that makes it impossible, even for well-governed countries, to meet the Millennium Development Goals. He says the Group of Eight industrialized countries should meet its pledge to double aid to Africa by 2010.

Even with Kevin Rudd's latest promise, Australia falls well behind this. Tanzania is one of the African countries best-placed to benefit from aid – it is stable, well-governed and committed to improving governance even further.

Rent a Book Fundraiser

Here's my latest scheme! You can download this bookplate and stick it into any of your books. Then you lend the books, sell them, or give them away, and the books becomes a fundraiser for the School of St Jude.



Do you like this idea? Can you add these bookplates to your books? Go here to download the PDF file, then print it out and stick it into any of your books. [Right click the link and choose 'save as' to save the PDF file to your computer.]

Your borrowers can use the ChipIn widget on this blog to donate their book rental fees to the School of St Jude.

Get your books working for you! Better still – get them working to educate bright children from poor families in Tanzania.



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Paving and drainage make me happy

My brother in law is a plumber, so I happen to think that drainage is important – and even interesting. So, take a look at this. Our monthly contribution to the School of St Jude has been put to good use!

The playground and path used to flood when it rained

Up until recently, whenever it rained, the area in front of the classrooms has become a quagmire. No amount of gravel or ground leveling could stop this. Of course, the kids didn’t mind, they just splashed through the puddles ruining pairs of shoes, splattering uniforms and trampling mud through the classrooms. But more serious was the problem of the stagnant water providing the perfect breeding ground for the malaria carrying mosquitoes.

And then the School discovered Hans, a Danish man, who has a paving business using local workers and a local product to provide a very professional paving job and the problem is on its way to being solved!

Thorough preparation is the secret to great paving!

As you can see from the photos, not only do the paving stones save a whole lot of shoe leather and cleaning materials but they really look fantastic, too.

Beautiful paving runs beside classrooms, creating a dry zone

In conjunction with the paving, the School now has a very efficient drainage system to remove the water that used to accumulate in the area to a large underground storage tank. The water from this will be used to water gardens and wash buses during the dry season – a huge saving on our precious water supply.

Ooh... look that that lovely snaking drain

Here is the new drain that runs alongside the main entry road. It's big enough to manage the big tropical downpours that are typical in East Africa.

Now THAT’S a drain!

So, as you can see, our donations really help the School in so many ways – the kids and teachers are kept cleaner, drier and healthier; the cleaners’ jobs are less onerous; the environment is kept healthy and clear of mud and the water saving storage tank will make a huge difference to the water supply in the coming months.

If you would like to add your contribution to the School, please visit their website and click on ‘Support us’. Small donations can be made through the ChipIn button at the top of this blog.



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Round up

Well, we had a great time at the Kujenga! fundraiser for Foodwatershelter that I blogged about here. Foodwatershelter build eco-friendly children's villages with education, social and health facilities. Their first village for 40 orphans will be near Arusha in Tanzania.

I thought I would end this month with a reminder about the building projects at St Judes.

The Big Sleepover – weekday boarding school

It’s underway, and you’re invited! Work is starting on the weekday boarding facilities for the older kids who live a long way from the school. The boarding school will provide bunk bed dormitories, living/dining/study areas, bathrooms, and play areas.

Instead of sharing a mattress in a two room home,

the kids will have their own bed and mosquito net.

Instead of studying by candle or lamp in homes with no electricity,

the kids will have well-lit study areas with some computers.

Instead of walking an hour to the bus for the long ride to school, they will have a five minute walk to school.

And they will go home at weekends, so their loving families won’t lose contact with these bright children who are on the way to an amazing future with opportunities every parent dreams about.

How can you join The Big Sleepover? Well, the school has prepared a number of sponsorship packages shown in the following picture.



Last month, we opted to 'sponsor' an industrial cooker! I guess we won't get letters from it, but I'm sure we'll see photos. Maybe I can send it a Christmas card now and then!

Please email Gemma – schoolofstjude@habari.co.tz – if there is a package/s you are willing to support. She will make sure you get lots feedback and thanks.




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Budget support for education

In their budget proposals for 2007-2008, Kenya and Tanzania pledged to boost spending on education and health, while Uganda set aside funds for rehabilitating the conflict-ravaged north, where internally displaced persons (IDPs) are returning to their villages.

Finance ministers of the three countries made the pledges when they simultaneously unveiled their national budgets on 14 June.

Tanzanian Finance Minister Zakia Meghji announced substantial increases in spending on education, health and infrastructure: "Those sectors have a great impact on poverty reduction," said Meghji.

Zakia Meghji (l) meets Brigitte Girardin from France

About 18 percent of the country's budget would be spent on education, 12.8 percent on roads and 10 percent on health, while 6.2 percent would fund agriculture and 5.1 percent will be used on water services.

Challenges to Tanzania's education system include a shortage of teachers and teaching aids at all levels, according to Juma Ngasongwa, the planning, economy and empowerment minister.

I have blogged here about the current strains on the Tanzanian education system caused by an extra 2.3 million children flooding into primary schools across the country due to the removal of school fees. This budget shows that Tanzania is trying to manage this transition.

A simple comparison with the NSW State budget shows that NSW spends 24% of its budget on education, and that does not include universities, because they are funded by the Australian Government. NSW spends 28% of its budget on health.

It is great to see that Tanzania is spending more on education, health and infrastructure. But their revenue base is extremely low, even though external grants and concessional financing will contribute 39% of revenue. Their revenue is so tiny that the 18% to be spent on education is ONE HUNDRED TIMES LESS than the amount spent in NSW.

The School of St Jude is a fantastic project that provides essential basic education to bright children from the poorest families. How else are these children to grow up with the skills necessary to help guide Tanzania into the future?

Can you help?



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Where is East Africa?

Sometimes it is not quite what you may think it is. Usually Tanzania is counted as East Africa, but for some purposes, it it counted as part of a bloc of countries in Southern Africa.




Perhaps this kind of ambiguity will diminish with the latest steps towards the formation of the offical East African Community (EAC). This community is intended to become a political federation, including a common market for the region's combined population of 110 million, a monetary union and a common president and parliament by 2010.

Three countries at the core of the EAC are Tanzania, Kenya and Uganda which joined in 2005 to establish a common tariff zone. Last week they were joined by Rwanda and Burundi, and the five countries are working towards a shared future with a common East African court of justice, customs union and an EAC anthem.

Rwanda is rebuilding an economy shattered after a 1994 genocide in which 800,000 people were butchered, while Burundi is still in talks with rebels to end an insurgency that has killed some 300,000 of its citizens since 1993.

Their inclusion in the EAC is vital to their future development because both are land locked countries. Land locked countries are severely disadvantaged in world trade because of the transport barriers that cut them off from access to world markets.

In time, the EAC has the potential to help this group of countries that share geography, history and culture to share economic development in mutual harmony with their neighbours and to reap the dividends of living at peace.

UPDATE 7 July: The enlarged East African Community has attracted investors from the Indian sub-continent barely a month after its was launched in Kampala.

The Confederation of Indian Industrialists is visiting the region to explore opportunities for investing in the new trading block that now has a population of about 115 million.

Kenya's Minister for Regional Co-operation, John Koech, took the opportunity to announce that a joint East African energy master plan and other forms of infrastructure were being worked on to boost industrialisation.

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African music – listen in!

There is something about African rhythms and harmonies that delights my ear. I hear it in Brian Kieran’s video of St Jude’s which features the clear voices of the children in many places.

In recent years these rhythms, tunes and harmonies have come to the wide world through performers like Paul Simon and through the whole World Music scene. Now, of course, we have Web 2.0 with its user-generated content.

A great place for musical browsing is YouTube. You can drop in there and put ‘Tanzania’ into the search box to find the latest works tagged ‘Tanzania’. Try it again for ‘Tanzanie’ and you’ll get a slightly different crop of works.

Here’s a favourite of mine from this past week. The clip is titled the Best Swahili Church Song Ever. It has been viewed 3,900 times and favourited 22 times – so there are lot of people who like this kind of music!



The School of St Jude aims to support the best elements of Tanzanian culture, while introducing some core Australian values. Music is a strong element in Tanzanian culture and it is great to see it weaving its way through school life at St Jude’s.



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News Roundup

I seem to have come across lots of bits of news about Tanzania in the last few days, so I thought I’d share some of them with you.

Flaviana Tatata: Miss Tanzania 2007

More about Flaviana later, first....

Economic growth. Most exciting to me is the news that Tanzania's economy is expected to grow by 7.3 percent in 2007, up from 6.2 percent in 2006, according to a government planning agency. You may recall that growth in 2006 was reduced by the extensive power failures that occurred when drought cut off the hydro electricity supply.

The 7.3% figure is very exciting because 7% growth is required if Millennium Development Goals are to be achieved by 2015 and living standards raised. As a reference point, it is handy to know that Australia’s growth rate was 2.8% in 2006.

Africa Competitiveness Report. Good government policies, better access to finance and more infrastructure are all needed if Africa is to expand its economy. Corruption and lack of skills, energy and transport are the main bottlenecks to improving productivity and making the continent more competitive in global markets.

These are among the main findings of “Africa Competitiveness Report 2007,” a 255-page study released today ahead of the opening of the World Economic Forum on Africa in Cape Town, South Africa. The competitiveness study is the first research on Africa carried out jointly by the World Economic Forum, the World Bank, and the African Development bank.

Speaking at the launch, Senior Forum Economist Jennifer Blanke said the economic outlook for Africa is positive and that Africa's economy has grown in the last five years. The rest of the world, however, is growing at a much faster pace.

Investing in Tanzania. Which countries are investing in Tanzania? In the top ten are:

• Britain with projects worth US$ 1,115m.
• Kenya, which shares a border with Tanzania. Projects valued US$ 958.21m.
• India
• South Africa
• Netherlands
• China
• USA, Germany, UAE, Botswana.

Miss Tanzania. Finally, we know that Tanzania is engaging on all fronts when its cricket team plays in an international competion in Australia, and when Tanzania enters the Miss Universe competition! This is its first year in the competition, represented by Flaviana Tatata, an electrical technician.

Flaviana Tatata: Miss Tanzania 2007

What do you want the judges to know about you?
I am an electrical technician by profession as well as a top model in my country. I never let anyone define me neither by hair nor clothing as I believe God made me perfect as a pure, natural African woman.

I get the impression that Tanzania is on the move!



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Tanzania comes to Sydney!

Have fun at this high-energy cocktail fundraiser in the Rocks on Thursday 27 June, 2007.

The folks at FoodWaterShelter are throwing a party and you're invited. This great group is starting an an eco-friendly children's village in Tanzania. It will be home for 40 orphans in the Arusha district. They know what is needed and how to do it cos they have volunteered at the School of St Jude.

The party on the 27th will be held at Dan's place,the Argyle, 12-18 Argyle Street, The Rocks, Sydney. Dan? Gemma's brother of course!

What's up on the night?

• A wild performance by Senegalese drumming sensation, Pape Mbaye!
• A live auction with a money-can't-buy item list, including a 15-day Serengeti safari for two!
• Exotic African art, exhibiting unique pieces from Africa's and Australia's most talented artists.
• Gourmet Traveller photographer, Luke Burgess will talk you through his "Tales From Tanzania" photo exhibition.
• Exceptional and substantial canapé cuisine plus an unlimited access to tantalizing alcoholic beverages.
• A renowned African artist will paint the entire evening onto canvas. This canvas will be auctioned on the night!

The dress is cocktail, and the price is $125. I think I'll be there!!

You can find out more about this FoodWaterShelter fundraiser on their website.