TANZANIA-BRITAIN FORUM THE RIGHT WAY FORWARD
It is surprising that trade ties between the United Kingdom and Tanzania are pathetic, relatively speaking. This is indeed most disconcerting, considering that the two countries have been closely associated – albeit at different socio-political levels – for a little more than a century now.
As Tanganyika, the country was mandated to Great Britain for administration and development by the League of Nations after the 1914-18 World War. It was then entrusted to the very same Great Britain with similar objectives by the United Nations Organisation (UN) after the 1939-45 World War.
Thereafter, Tanganyika was granted (political) independence by Britain on December 9, 1961.
We have purposely gone to great lengths here on the two countries’ relationships to stress the relatively huge disparity in trade relations today.
For example, Tanzania’s annual exports to the UK currently stand at a measly 29 million pounds-sterling (about Sh90 billion), while its imports are valued at 127 billion pounds-sterling (Sh450 billion): nearly five times as much.
This is despite the fact that Tanzania has been independent from alien rule for the last 60 years.
It’s with this huge disparity in trade relations in mind that stakeholders in the two nations convened a Tanzania-UK Business Forum in Dar es Salaam on Tuesday, bringing together “20 British companies, over 125 business people and senior British government officials” and their Tanzanian counterparts, including sectoral ministers and other representatives.
The objective is “to significantly expand cooperation in trade and investment – especially in the energy, mining, infrastructure, agriculture, blue economy and tourism sectors.”
The Dar es Salaam Business Forum – set to become an annual event – will be followed by other business engagements elsewhere “in efforts to build even more mutual prosperity for our countries,” said Lord Walney (John Woodcock), UK’s Trade Envoy to Tanzania.
Well, we say, it’s better late than never, as we can now envisage vastly improved trade and investment relations with the UK.
LEARNING TO VALUE TOILETS
Tomorrow, November 19, is World Toilet Day (WTD), proclaimed as such by the United Nations General Assembly in 2013 “to inspire action to tackle the global sanitation crisis”. Noting that “about 4.2 billion people live without access to safely-managed sanitation – and around 673 million practise open defecation” – the UN said this is contrary to Goal-6 of the 2030 Sustainable Development Goals “to end open defecation by ensuring availability and sustainable management of sanitation and hygiene for all.
When some people in a community do not have safe toilets, everyone’s health is threatened. Poor sanitation contaminates drinking water sources, food crops, etc. – thus spreading deadly diseases among the wider population.
It was for this reason, then, that the UN finally declared ready access to clean, safe water and functional sanitation a “human right” in 2010. All in all, WTD is about functionally tackling the global sanitation crisis to achieve SDG-6: water and sanitation for all by 2030 – with the 2021 theme simply being “Valuing Toilets!”
This is intended to draw attention to the basic fact that sanitation systems worldwide are underfunded, neglected and otherwise poorly managed – with devastating consequences for human health, the environment and economies.
