Tanzania is building seven new airports in a move seen as plans to ensure that each region has its own air landing terminal as well as boosting the aviation industry in the country.
Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Finance and Planning, Emmanuel Tutuba, said already the Songea Airport of Ruvuma is complete by 96 percent, the Mtwara terminal by 86 percent and Iringa done by 88 percent.
The Permanent Secretary was addressing editors and senior journalists at the Arusha Sub-Treasury premises, during special media training sessions organized by the Ministry of Finance and Planning.
Other airports include that of Musoma which complete by 84 percent as others currently in pipeline include those to be built in Tabora, Shinyanga as well as the expansion of the Mwanza Airport.
The ongoing airports construction projects, according to Mr Tutuba, are being executed with support from the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development.
The country already has two leading airports, the Julius Nyerere International of Dar-es-salaam and Kilimanjaro International perched between Arusha and Kilimanjaro Regions.
Other top terminals include the Dodoma Airport whose construction was backed by the African Development Bank (AfDB) and Songwe terminal serving the Southern Highlands. Arusha also has the domesticbut relatively busy airport which essentially links the city to all National Parks in the Northern Circuit.
In the Isles, there is the Abeid Amani Karume International Airport of Zanzibar.
The Tanzania mainland has 27 airports managed under the Tanzania Airports Authority except for Kilimanjaro International, which is managed by the Kilimanjaro Airport Development Company (KADCO).
New air terminals will also boost the country’s tourism industry as Tanzania targets to attract 5 million foreign visitors by the year 2025.
Meanwhile the official figures from the Ministry of Finance indicate that the inflation rate in Tanzania has remained well under 5 percent despite the ongoing conflicts in the East Europe, while the shilling keeps getting stronger against all odds.
As the inflation rate fell to 3.7 percent in February 2022 from 4.0 percent in January, the situation remains stable even now despite the global Covid-19 pandemic, which has been taking toll on the economy for the last two years.
“And we are still doing well despite ongoing unrest following the Russia, Ukraine conflicts in the Eastern Europe,” stated the Permanent Secretary while addressing editors and senior journalists in Arusha.
Organized by the Ministry of Finance and Planning the training is within the series of educational programs for media personalities targeting to enlighten members of the press on economic issues.
It was further stated during the media training that the country’s inflation remains under control sticking well below the government’s medium-term target of 5 percent.
Stability according to experts is also credited due to slower rises in the prices of key commodities, including food, which is the biggest driver of inflation in Tanzania.
The Permanent Secretary added that the country’s total foreign reserves have reached a historical high, sailing well above the regional benchmarks. The central bank attributed the reserve increase to exports of goods and services that increased by 6.1 percent.
“The country’s foreign reserves are sufficient to cover about 6.4 months of projected imports, excluding those financed by foreign direct investment,” stated Mr Tutuba.
“We now pay salaries in time, settle debts within the set timeframe and the country is also seamlessly executing all major development projects,” he added.
On the other hand the World Bank’s GDP growth forecast for Tanzania after Covid-19 induced slowdown indicated that growth in 2019 stood at 5.8 percent, then dropped to 2 percent in the following year of 2020.
By the year 2021 growth rose to 4.3 percent and in the course of this year, the country’s GDP growth is being predicted at between 4.5 percent and 5.5 percent.
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