At the end of the conference participants concluded that the Diaspora have a very important role to play in accelerating the vehicle of the second largest economy in East African region.
As the dust of the conference is settling down, we think it is imperative to remind the government of what should be done to encourage participation of the Diaspora in the economic development of our country.
The first step that the government needs to take is to establish the exact number of members of the Diaspora overseas to clear the fog over the controversial figure of 1.2 million given the current census.
The reasons behind review of the number of Tanzanians living abroad is first and foremost to enable the government establish locations and occupations of its subjects, a necessary requisite in Diaspora policy formation.
We concur with Mr Ali Mufuruki, Chairman of CEO Roundtable of Tanzania, a policy dialogue forum bringing together chief executive officers of leading companies in Tanzania, that upon establishing their exact number the government should create friendly environment for their return.
“It doesn't click into one’s mind that we send our children to school for them to end up working in other countries, which in most cases are stronger than us in financial muscles,” says Mufuruki who is also the Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Infotech Investment Group.
Indeed, it was high time the governments said enough was enough by tracing the number of Tanzanians living abroad and give them a room in their country, given the notion that the environment at home is hostile to opportunities.
We have seen from other countries including our neighbouring Kenya and African economic giants such Nigeria and South Africa how the Diaspora are best placed in engineering the development of their countries’ economies.
We need to be more action-oriented; but this is only possible if the government will create an environment to attract Tanzanians living abroad.
Closing the two-day conference, President John Magufuli said it all, pledging his full support, providing solutions to problems related to the Diaspora and provide room for them to take part in the development of the country's economy.
“I assure you that I am working round the clock to inspire and enable you to invest in various sectors,” he said in his closing speech of the conference read on his behalf by a cabinet minister.
He called for the use of the Diaspora conference as a platform for investments, saying untapped opportunities were still abundant in the country.
Zanzibar President Dr Ali Mohamed Shein also echoed Magufuli’s stance, saying his government would soon endorse a policy that to guide the Diaspora and engage them in various national issues in areas of development and investment.
The third Diaspora conference is gone. What we need to do is to engage the Diaspora in an attempt to attract more direct foreign investments.
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