Building middle class tough task

Mr Ole Naiko (r) and Mr Mufuruki

The CEOs Roundtable of Tanzania, a policy dialogue forum – is facing an uphill task of helping the government in its efforts to develop a middle class in the country.

At the same time, the African Development Bank (AfDB) data shows that Tanzania’s middle class is far lower than that of Kenya and Uganda.

In its recent report titled The Middle of the Pyramid: Dynamics of the Middle Class in Africa, the AfDB says Tanzania has a middle class population of 12.1 per cent, Kenya 44.9 per cent and Uganda 18.7 per cent.

Speaking at a gala dinner prepared by the CEOs Roundtable to present him with a Lifetime Achievement for Outstanding Public Service Award in Dar es Salaam over the weekend, the seasoned investment promoter and expert, Mr Emmanuel Ole Naiko, said creating sizable middle class is the best way of speeding the country’s development.

Mr Naiko becomes the first recipient of the award.
 

“Please do whatever it takes to help the government in its efforts to develop a Middle Class in Tanzania,” Mr Ole Naiko told members of the CEOs Roundtable during the event.

The award winner requested the chairman of the Round Table, Mr Ali Mufuruki, to use his knowledge and experience he has in business to help Tanzania build a Middle Class Economy.

According to the CEOs Roundtable chairman, Mr Ali Mufuruki, the selection committee arrived at the decision to award Mr Naiko after looking at his  record as a strong advocate of the private sector agenda during his many years of public service.

“Thanks in large part to your tireless efforts, many policies and regulations were put in place by our government that helped attract investments into Tanzania both foreign and local,” he said.

He said that even though Mr Naiko had left active public service, members of the Roundtable continue to cherish his contribution to their growth.

Mr Naiko said creating a viable middle class in Tanzania is a government’s wish and that it should be honoured and implemented for the good of Tanzanians.

He said during his days at the Tanzania Investment Centre (TIC) as  the executive director he was involved in spearheading a drive for Tanzania to be  a middle class economy.in Tanzania.

“Our primary focus then was to bring economically disadvantaged Tanzania into the mainstream of our economy as a Middle Class Stratum because nationally and internationally we have inherited and created institutions and systems that excludes too many of our people from global and national prosperity,” he said.

Explaining further, he said such measures would make Tanzanians play a more inclusive role in the national and global Business.

“We took that challenge seriously by creating a group of 80 young entrepreneurs…unfortunately this initiative was quick high jacked by someone in one of the Ministries…we completely lost that drive,” he said. 

Source: The Citizen,www.thecitizen.co.tz, in Dar es Salaam 

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