Mkapa urges stronger ties with the private sector
Investment Climate Facility for Africa co-chair former President Benjamin Mkapa addresses a press conference in Dar es Salaam yesterday during the launch of the ICF’s Completion Report. With him is ICF chief executive officer William Asiko. PHOTO | CITIZEN PHOTOGRAPHER
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The former President has said Africa must work to bridge the divide between governments and the business community.
Dar es Salaam. Former President Benjamin Mkapa has said African governments must work harder to build stronger ties with the private sector.
He said it was high time the widespread notion that successful entrepreneurs were involved in clandestine businesses is dismissed.
Mr Mkapa was addressing a press conference to launch of the Investment Climate Facility for Africa (ICF) Completion Report in Dar es Salaam on Wednesday.
“Don’t treat all successful entrepreneurs as thieves. You have to create more friendly investment climate,” said the former President, who is a co-chairman of the ICF.
ICF works to improve the climate for investment in Africa by removing barriers to doing business.
Mr Mkapa said while there had been notable improvement in the continent’s investment climate, a lot more still needed to be done for African countries to attain sustainable economic growth, create more jobs and end poverty.
He singled out Rwanda as a shining example in Africa for adopting techniques the ICF lobbies for to improve the business environment.
Tanzania must learn from Rwanda, he said, but he praised his country for training medium enterprises to speed up the clearance of goods at ports and borders.
Other countries that have improved business environment under ICF support are Nigeria, Kenya, Togo, Cape Verde, Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso.
ICF chief executive officer William Asiko said the facility was set up in Tanzania as a trust nine years ago with funding from the UK, the Netherlands and World Bank. He noted that the ICF had positively impacted 21 countries that had made Africa a better place of doing business.
“The ICF has completed six projects in Tanzania. Our work has resulted in better achievements in ease of doing business, formalisation of businesses, making easy participation in international trade and easiness in tax payment,” Mr Asiko said.
