Tap in agriculture, mid-sized firms told
Officials from firms based in Arusha and neighbouring regions follow proceedings at the launch of the 2016/17 Top 100 Mid-Sized Companies Survey held in the city yesterday. MCL, which publishes The Citizen, Mwananchi and Mwanaspoti, is engaged in the project through The Citizen, its daily English brand launched in September 2004.
PHOTO | FILBERT RWEYEMAMU
What you need to know:
Mr Nanai said the agricultural sector must change from being subsistence to commercial-orientation for Tanzania to rise to the middle income economy by 2025 as prophesied by the fifth phase government.
Arusha. Local firms have been challenged to exploit the government’s record Budget allocation on development projects this financial year in order to support the agricultural sector, the livelihood of majority of Tanzanians.
“There are very few companies in the agricultural sector which are doing well. Conversely, some of our local industries will not succeed without inputs from agriculture,” said the managing director of Mwananchi Communications Limited (MCL) Francis Nanai yesterday.
He made the remarks when launching the 2016/17 Top 100 mid-sized companies survey at the Kibo Palace Hotel in Arusha.
Mr Nanai said the agricultural sector must change from being subsistence to commercial-orientation for Tanzania to rise to the middle income economy by 2025 as prophesied by the fifth phase government.
“We cannot industrialise without improving our agricultural sector which supplies industries with raw materials and which remains the livelihood of over 70 per cent of Tanzanians,” he told scores of executives and company officials from Arusha and the neighbouring regions, observing that since the survey was initiated in 2011, the participation of companies from the agricultural sector had been low.
He said the allocation of Sh12 trillion for development projects this fiscal year was a wake-up call for the local entrepreneurs to exploit the chance.
A senior manager with the KPMG, Mr Amour Saleh, said about 120 companies had so far confirmed participation. “The survey collects general and financial information from all participating companies in addition to market dynamics, industry benchmarks, human resource development, business confidence, future expectations and obstacles for growth”, he said. Mr Bakari Machumu, the MCL executive editor, said the survey had been extended to Arusha and Mwanza this year because of the huge potential for the two cities in business development.
He said three out of four firms that won in the past four contests held so far hailed from the two cities of Arusha and Mwanza.
