TCCIA, ZCCIA to jointly tackle trade challenges
Dar es Salaam. For Tanzania to trade effectively under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), there is a need for both Tanzania Mainland and Zanzibar to jointly tackle trade barriers that have hindered them for decades now.
This was said yesterday by stakeholders in the private sector during a signing of MoU between Tanzania Chambers of Commerce Industry (TCCIA) with Zanzibar Chambers of Commerce industry (ZCCIA) the Association of Tanzania Oil and Gas Service Providers (Atogas) and Tanzania Saccos for Women Entrepreneurs (Taswe).
ZCCIA chairman Ali Amour said barriers between the two sides need to be tackled for Tanzania to trade effectively with either the East African Community as well as the AfCFTA. “We are happy that the government has ratified the Continental trade whose market is more than 1.3 billion which will benefit Tanzania immensely,” he said.
Noting that barriers affecting both Mainland and Zanzibar include double taxation of goods in Tanzania Mainland which are also taxed upon arrival in Zanzibar. “We know the finance bill of 2021 has tried to solve the issue but it’s still not clear how it will work until after the regulation is passed to show this,” he said.
Explaining on other barriers, he said institutions from both the Mainland and Zanzibar like Tanzania Bureaus of Standards and Zanzibar Bureau of Standards had failed to collaborate by not recognizing goods from either side after undergoing inspection when reaching the other side regardless whether either of the institutions had already done the inspection or not,” he said.
In view of this, he said it was crucial to build one stronghold to participate as one in the AfCFTA.
For his part, Atgos board chairman Abdulsamad Abdulrahim said the signed Partnership Agreement with TCCIA would enable them to reach grassroots with the aim of ensuring no one was left behind. “There is a new local content in the offing that is cross cutting to ensure no one is left behind, by promoting inclusion of local communities and indigenous Tanzanians (Local Content) in the Oil and Gas and Energy Sector including Uganda-Tanzania crude oil pipeline (EACOP) and LNG project,” he said
