Grinding poverty plagues 7 regions

from IPP Media

By Felister Peter

Over 40 per cent of the people in each of seven regions in Tanzania live in extreme poverty, according to the National Economic Empowerment Council.

The council says the worst off region is Singida followed, in a descending order of poverty levels, by Lindi, Mwanza, Coast, Mara, Shinyanga and Ruvuma.

Prof Lucian Msambichaka of NEEC revealed this in a presentation on the National Dialogue on Economic Empowerment in the country at a seminar for journalists held in Dar es Salaam yesterday.

He said statistics show that 63 per cent the people of Tanzania earn below the national per capita income of 313,362/- a year, adding: ``Singida Region leads by having 55.32 per cent of its people earning 208,812/- per year.

It contributes a mere 235,535m/- to the gross domestic product (GDP) each year.``

The corresponding scores for Shinyanga Region were given as 41.96 per cent, 233,166/- and 692,529m/-, while those for Lindi Region are 53.47 per cent, 294,105/- and 237,683m/-.

Prof Msambichaka said Ruvuma Region had 41.28 per cent of its people living in extreme poverty. It had a per capita income of 372,028/- and contributes 434,203m/- to the GDP.

Mara Region, on the other hand, has 45.62 per cent of its people listed as extremely poor, while its per capita income averaged 329,655/- a year.

Mwanza had 48.33 per cent of its population ranked as extremely poor, its per capita income was 309,577/- a year and its contribution to GDP 961,672m/-.

The corresponding figures for Coast Region are 46.08 per cent, 253,607/- and 234,546m/-.

The NEEC executive explained that Mwanza and Shinyanga regions ranked higher on the GDP scale than the rest of the pack, they were plagued by low labour productivity problems because most of their people were not engaged in any money-generating activities.

He said the Tanzania National Business Council in collaboration with NEEC would hold a national dialogue with the relevant stakeholders at different levels at which information and knowledge on modern approaches on the economic empowerment of the Tanzanian people would be made available.

The NEEC`s objective was to enable the people to participate more meaningfully in economic activities, including plans, strategies and policies in the public and private sectors.

``Sustainable national economic development will become a reality in Tanzania only if it is built on the full potential of the people and communities across the country,`` the professor pointed out.

Meanwhile, TNBC Executive Director Dunstan Mrutu said the national dialogue would start at the district level and run on right to the national level.

It would be organised by district and regional business councils and involve government officials and private sector players, including NGOs, across the country.

Mrutu said they had opted for a bottom-up approach that would see Tanzanians living at the grassroots accorded first priority, adding: ``The national dialogue will critically look into the factors inhibiting the development process at the district and regional level and propose policy initiatives to turn things around.``