Tanzania: Yes, No Delays in Project Execution

DUST appears to have settled down after last week's two-day historic visit of the US President Barack Obama to Tanzania, as part of his three-nation official tour of Africa.
Mr Obama also visited Senegal and later South Africa, before coming to Dar es Salaam, where he was accorded a rousing welcome. While in Tanzania, the US president, among other things, urged urgent effort to bring electric power to millions of homes and businesses in Africa.
He also condemned corruption and said governments in Africa should implement projects with the right speed, avoiding unnecessary bureaucracy and redtape.
At the Symbion power plant, on July 2, the US president bemoaned the plight of 70 per cent of the people in Africa who lack reliable access to electricity. He launched the US$7 billion Africa Power initiative and stressed that African countries needed to implement projects at the right speed to bring about the impact on the economy and the people's life.
Erratic power supply had for long negatively affected the performance of many manufacturers on the continent and welfare of millions, who are trapped in poverty.
The Minister for Energy and Minerals, Professor Sospeter Muhongo, on the same day told a news conference that for Tanzania the Africa Power initiative has come at the right time. The minister pointed out that Tanzania was already in the process of doubling power output from its current installed capacity of 1,400 megawatts to around 3,000MW by 2015.
There is no doubt that heavy investment in power supply and infrastructure projects including those under the Millenium Challenge Corporation (MCC) also supported by the US government, will unlock the country's explosive economic potential.
President Obama's visit came months after another high-profile tour of the Chinese President Xi Jingping, who was in the country in March. During Xi's visit Tanzania and China signed several trade and co-operation agreements.
The pacts included plans to co-develop a new port in Bagamoyo and industrial zone complex, a concessional loan for communications infrastructure and an interest free loan to the government.
It is hoped that relevant authorities in the government would facilitate execution of all those projects as fast as possible to ensure the public started enjoying the benefits.
There are reports that execution of some projects are being deliberately delayed by executives who put their personal interests above everything. This is totally unacceptable and will defeat the whole purpose of such highprofile tours.