Africa needs new strategies for economic development

By Vincent Mpepo-OUT

African countries have been urged to develop, innovate and think of the new structures of economy in order to attain sustainable development in the today’s competitive market economy.

The statement was made over the weekend by Dr Piergiuseppe Fortunato during the workshop on Structural Transformation, Industrial Policy and Development held at the Open University of Tanzania, Kinondoni-Dar es salaam.

Fortunato said with the existing challenges in Africa there is a need for governments to adopt new economic strategies that will help Africa solve its internal problems of poor technology, unemployment and poverty.

The economies of developing countries need to be transformed through new economic policies that will help African countries produce more products, services and creating job opportunities to the majority.

“Economic development goes hand in hand with the transformation of economic srtuctutures technologies, means of productions, tools and the like,” said Fortunato.

According to Dr Piergiuseppe Fortunato Regional Economic Cooperation are areas to look on in creating enabling environment for trade activities among the member states because it will speed up trade relations.

He said African governments need policies targeting to altering specific sectoral structures of production that are expected to offer better prospects for economic growth towards a transformation process from previous means of production to the new ones.

Slyivatus Kashaga, a participant from the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock and Fishing said the workshop was a platform where they discussed various issues related to economic policy making and especially from countries which are now doing well in economic.

“We have discussed and learnt practical use of economic policies and how they work in transforming the country to the better level of development like Vietnam which started as Tanzania but has gone far in agriculture to industrialization and even to specialization production,” said Kashaga.

He said Tanzania has a greater chance to produce added value products and  sophisticate them for the international market pointing out cocoa and horticulture and that the government could also put emphasis on that.

On his side, Dr Deusdedit Rwehumbiza from University of Dar es Salaam Business School said the workshop has come at the right time whereby the current government has put emphasis in developing industries in the country.

“The workshop has helped us identifying opportunities through various sectors for example manufacturing industry which if they are given priority they can enhance the country’s economic development,” said Dr Rwehumbiza.

Dr Rwehumbiza said improving manufacturing industries will help to link other sectors and produce multiple effects for instance manufacturing will require products from agriculture at the same time employment opportunities will be produced.

Despite the good will of the government to create enabling environment for investment in the country still there is a need to have priorities in terms of what to start with in implementation of structural economic transformation towards attaining the desired development results.

Meanwhile, despite the new integrated industrial development policy of 2011, a shortage of emphasis on technological learning, low absorptive capacity and low emphasis on innovation continue to hinder industrial development, particularly in the manufacturing sector.

According to the UNICTAD Report (2015) economic growth in the least developed countries has slowed since 2012 due to the impressive performance by fuel-exporting countries took the growth rate of their real gross domestic product to a post-financial crisis peak of 7.2 per cent. The report assessment covers three countries including Tanzania, Ethiopia and Nigeria.

A three day workshop was organized by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development –Virtual Institute in collaboration with the Faculty of Business Management of the Open University of Tanzania and attended by participants from various ministries, higher learning institution and policy makers.