Diplomatist Special Report - Tanzania Tanzania 2018 | Page 30

The connectivity of Bagamoyo is of great importance.
Therefore, there wouldn’t have been a better place to build
this strategic new port other than Bagamoyo. The modern
port which will be operational in 3-4 years, adopts the most
applauded model which is behind the ascendancy of China’s
maritime business - the Port-Zone-City which brings together
a strategic mix of the key drivers of industrialisation in one
package. That means the new port will be supported by a
zone of industries and logistics infrastructure. About 190
industries will be constructed within the Bagamoyo Special
Economic Zone during the fi rst phase of 3-4 years; the number
will increase to 760 industries when the project is completed.
The City, notably the new face of Bagamoyo will also be
built within the Bagamoyo Special Economic Zone to cater
for new business, trade and logistics demands that will come
with this project.
Coincidentally, Tanzania looks to develop a High
Technology Park within the Bagamoyo Special Economic
Zone. The Park, allocated 175 hectares of land, is planned to
have ICT incubators, pharmaceutical industries, research and
development institutions; also, technology and innovation is
of high demand in Tanzania and the East and Central African
regions. “This is a rare facility in our region at the moment,
and investors from India need to explore this opportunity;
considering groundbreaking advances the country has in the
areas of Information and Communication Technology,” says
Col (retired) Joseph Simbakalia, the Director General of the
Export Processing Zones Authority (EPZA) in Tanzania; an
Authority which is also responsible for development of the
Bagamoyo Special Economic Zone.
30 •TANZANIA
Tanzania is best placed
to attract investors from
industries all over the world
because of vast amount of
natural resources within its
boundaries, availability of
massive labour force together
with a strong market base
within the country, the region
of East, Central and Southern
Africa as a whole.
– Col (retired) Joseph Simbakalia,
Director General of the Export
Processing Zones Authority
(EPZA), Tanzania
Development of the Bagamoyo Special Economic Zone
is in line with Tanzania’s industrialisation drive. This is
clearly articulated in Tanzania’s second National Five Year
Development Plan (FYDP II: 2016/17-2020/21), the main
thrust of which is to spur industrialisation for economic
development. Tanzanian advocates of industrialisation Ali
Mufuruki, Moremi Marwa and Gilman Kasiga, in their new
book ‘Tanzania’s Industrialisation Journey, 2016-2056’, sees
the Government’s plan as a step in the right direction. Suffi ce
to say, Tanzania’s industrialisation drive has a strong policy
backing and full support of the Government. Undoubtedly,
the new direction will help Tanzania get through the painful
experience of deindustrialisation experienced since the 1970s.
Worth noting is that Tanzania’s new industrialisation
roadmap sees the development of industries closely linked
with opening up of main routes of transportation for
improved effi ciency in the logistics sector. It is because of
this understanding that Tanzania has started to construct a
1,463 kilometres standard gauge railway line between Dar es
Salaam and Kigali, the capital of Rwanda. The construction,
which is being implemented in phases, will eventually
connect Burundi (a neighbouring country) and Mwanza (part
of Tanzania that is linked to Uganda and Kenya through Lake