means we try to see what Nigeria has to offer to Tanzania economically in exports . We try to promote tourism – Tanzania is second to Brazil in tourist sites – we try to get Nigerians to go to Tanzania on holidays . There are also the areas of educational exchanges and cultural exchanges . Nigerian movies and music are very popular in Tanzania . On the Nigerian side I found Nigerian attire and a bit of pharmaceuticals as major exports and on the Tanzanian side mosquito nets were the biggest exports . We are happy that Dangote has established the biggest cement plant , doing about 3million metric tonnes , in east and southern Africa . This plant is going to export to other countries earning foreign exchange for Tanzania and with the discovery of gas around where the factory is located , they will cut down cost by utilising the gas deposits . Currently business isn ’ t much , with Nigeria doing $ 2million while Tanzania exported $ 3million last year , so we need to do more .
How do you foresee Africa evolving against the background of past challenges ? African economies have been growing at a faster pace than many other regions of the world . This is Africa ’ s time to grow , Tanzania is growing at around 7 % and Ethiopia is growing at 10 %, so I believe that with the resources we have and the democratisation process taking place in African countries there is place and room in the next decade for us to have an African epoch .
What are the advantages Tanzania has to offer ? We have coffee in Tanzania , Tea and raw materials for making perfumes and clothes in Zanzibar . The Ankara is very popular in Tanzania and Nigerians can begin selling to us . We are very rich in tourism , with about 16 national parks and a lot of unique sites such as the Mount Kilimanjaro , the great Serengeti plains , Ngrorongoro crater , Stone Town in Zanzibar . Let me point out that a tourist visit to Tanzania is much cheaper than what you would spend in Europe , America and the Middle East as many are fond of doing today . People in the middle class can afford a trip to Tanzania and have all the advantages of other destinations of the world .
How can we encourage greater intra-African trade ? Till now we have only 12 % intra-African trade while Asia has about 30 % while Europe has about 80 %. The way out of this is to improve the telecommunications and infrastructure networks between countries and they can do that in blocks , which has started to take place . In east Africa for example we can do roads & rails that link all our countries , while SADC , ECOWAS and other sub-regions can initiate rail and road infrastructure projects that link the regions . If the blocks do these projects in time we will be able to connect the entire continent with ease . Several years ago there was a commission that was set up to find a solution to the problem of poverty under the headship of Mwalimu Nyerere , and the report of that commission was that whenever a country of the south wants to do business they should first look to see if their needs can be met within the south , because it is cheaper to do business among themselves . If we don ’ t trade more in Africa , we will continue to be hawkers of wood and drawers of water .
36 | PRTIMES AFRICA MARCH 2016