Business
Tanzania: Economy experiences 6.9% growth in 2012
The east African country of Tanzania’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) grew by US$4.5 billion last year compared to 2011, new economic data showed.
The March 2013 figures, published by the Planning Commission, put the total market value of all goods and services produced in Tanzania last year at TSh44.7 trillion (about US$27.95 billion).
This was 6.9 percent above the TSh37.5 trillion (US$ 23.45 billion) level of 2011 as the economy braved a gloomy global growth outlook.
Much of the growth, according to the Planning Commission, came from the services sector which contributed 47.6 percent to the economy last year.
Agriculture, the mainstay for the majority, contributed 26.8 percent.
A combination of manufacturing and construction took up 24 percent. The fisheries sector trailed with a 1.6 percent contribution to the economy.
Economists however say it is too early to celebrate as the growth seems to be concentrated in sectors that do not employ a sizeable number of people.
This, therefore, makes it hard for the trickle-down effect to be easily felt.
“That the economy is growing is an open secret, but it will take time before that growth starts to positively affect a majority of the country’s population,” said Prof. Humphrey Moshi of the University of Dar es Salaam.
This, he said, was because to yield meaningful gains, the growth is supposed to be above 8 percent continuously for a number of years.
That growth should also be stronger in sectors that employ huge numbers of the country’s population such as agriculture.
Source: The Citizen