National

PPP resources undermobilised

National Housing Corporation director general Nehemiah Mchechu (left), TOL board chairman Arnold Kileo and CEO Roundtable chairman Ali Mufuruki (right) compare notes at a past rountable meeting In Dar es Salaam.PHOTO | FILE

By Ludger Kasumuni (email the author)

Posted Wednesday, August 14 2013 at 22:23

In Summary

• While the government has declared to add value to farm produce, taxes declared in this financial year are not for value addition.

Dar es Salaam. The CEO Roundtable is concerned about the government failure to implement its target of mobilising Sh6 trillion under the public-private partnership (PPP) programme.

Speaking at the forum here on Tuesday, CEO Roundtable chairman Ali Mufuruki said the government was yet to mobilise Sh500 billion since the inception of the programme in 2011/12. “We are behind the target,” he said.

 

Mr Mufuruki noted that another anomaly was the country’s failure to fight crimes such as the high magnitude of corruption and drug trafficking which to some extent deter investments. Another weakness is the poor quality of teaching in primary and secondary schools which negatively impact on the churning out of requisite human resource demanded by the private sector.

TOL board chairman Arnold Kileo told the forum: “There is a weak involvement of the private sector in the country as demonstrated by the fact that the National Business Council has not met for the past three years now.” The corporate affairs director of the Tanzania Cigarette Company, Mr Paul Makanza, said the cost of doing business was still high and was frustrating investors.

He also said that although the PPP programme had underscored the importance of transforming agriculture through value addition, taxes were high and numerous and were hampering the sector’s growth.

“While the government has declared to add value to farm produce, taxes declared in this financial year are not for value addition,” he cautioned.

Responding to concerns, the minister of State in the President’s Office (Social Relations and Coordination), Mr Stephen Wasira, said that the government was ready to take inputs from the private sector to tackle challenges facing the PPP programme.

Mr Wasira, who officially opened the forum, said his attendance at the event was a sign of the government commitment to working with the private sector for implementing national development goals.

Earlier, when delivering his speech, Mr Wasira said the government set a target of having Sh8.9 trillion annually for the PPP programme.

He said out of the targeted funds, Sh2.9 trillion would come from the government and Sh6 trillion from the private sector, local and foreign.

Regarding the issue of the declining quality of the country’s education, he said the government was committed to getting views from the private sector to improve the education system. “The minister of Education shall, by the next week, hold a forum for members of the public to air views on how to improve the quality of education,” he said.

The CEOs forum also commended the government ban on procurement of imported furniture for public offices because it was imperative to create jobs through buying such items made locally.