TPSF boss urges firms to ‘self-audit’

Dar es Salaam. The private sector must start regulating itself to ensure it is clean, if it is to convince the government on various matters of mutual interest, a senior official said yesterday.

Self-regulating must involve dodging the allure of engaging in fake deals and tax evasion that denies revenues to the government, according to the Tanzania Private Sector Foundation (TPSF) executive director Godfrey Simbeye.

Mr Simbeye was speaking during the launch of Nordic Week that brought together various companies from Nordic countries (Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway and Sweden).

During the discussion, participants said there was a growing lack of trust between members of the public and the private sector.

Some participants noted with concern that Tanzania’s fiscal policies were becoming unpredictable and was thus discouraging investors.

According to Mr Simbeye, the unpredictability was a result of a lack of trust between the two parties.

“Government policies seem unpredictable because the government does not trust the private sector as we cannot regulate ourselves. Some companies are not paying tax while others are engaging in fake deals that deny revenue to the government,” he said.

He, however, admitted that there were some shortfalls in the business environment but hastened to add he was hopeful that implementation of a recently adopted blueprint will improve the situation.

Speaking at the event, Repoa executive director Dr Donald Mmari said the meeting intended to discuss the business environment between Tanzania and Nordic countries and that a number of companies attended.

“We discussed a lot on challenges that face them and there are number of suggestions that were raised, including the blueprint for improvement of Tanzania’s business climate.