Prof Kitila Mkumbo, the Planning and Investment state minister in the President’s Office, highlighted this achievement in presenting the plan to a statutory extraordinary session of the National Assembly here yesterday, when presenting the National Development Plan for the next financial year, 2024/25.
He said that the plan seeks to stimulate economic growth, reduce poverty and foster collective well-being, highlighting sectors that led in growth and largely contributed to national income growth for fiscal 2023.24.
He listed 162 projects and programmes to be implemented in the annual plan, geared at an economy that will generate employment and stimulate exports of value-added products.
Overall growth stood at 5.3 percent in the January to September 2023 period, inching up from 5.2 percent growth in the corresponding period for 2022, he stated.
Finance and insurance led income growth at 16.0 percent, mining and quarrying (10.2 percent), electricity (10.0 percent), arts and entertainment (10.0 percent), accommodation and food (8.9 percent), while information and communication registered 7.9 percent growth, he said.
Large contributors to the gross national product were agriculture (24.8 percent), construction (13.6 percent), mining and quarrying (9.7 percent), trade and maintenance (8.4 percent), transportation and warehousing (7.2 percent), and industry (6.9 percent).
Over 100 programmes and projects will be implemented in the next financial year that the government sees as model projects in stimulating competition and wide ranging growth infrastructure, notably the standard gauge railway (SGR) and the Julius Nyerere hydropower project.
There are other hydropower projects for Ruhudji, Rusumo and Rumakali as well as the Kinyerezi gas propelled power station, alongside solar and wind power projects.
He said the government will invest in roads, aviation, transportation in lakes and sea, as well as in environmentally friendly energy sources such as compressed natural gas (CNG) in vehicles to start reducing dependence on imported oil.
Research will be conducted for producing quality seeds especially for strategic crops to increase agro-sector productivity, enhance crop values and strengthen food security, and promote crop markets.
Strengthening extension services, expanding irrigation agriculture by completing 25 schemes, rehabilitating 30 schemes and finishing works on 14 dams to harvest rainwater, is envisaged.
Enhancing access to farm inputs, procuring five vehicles carrying 30 tons of seeds, building two seed laboratories, purchasing research equipment and building three seed storage warehouses are also envisaged.
Building a Better Tomorrow (BBT) programme will be boosted with 30 new farms in five regions, surveying land for investment in ten regions and providing training to 1000 BBT beneficiaries, the minister noted.
Providing low interest loans to youth and women plus widening extension efforts involving young people graduating from agricultural training will be pursued, he said.
Preparations are being made for a project to supply clean water from Lake Victoria to Singida and Dodoma regions both for domestic use and irrigation, he said.
The government expects to extend loans to 93,500 degree students and 10,000 diploma course students, implement new education policies and curricula, including teacher training, he further noted.
The government will pursue efforts to build communications towers in rural areas to align rural residents to foster application of IT in economic and social activities, he said.
Plans for establishing car batteries and machinery factories were being pursued, along with programmes to control and eradicate mosquito breeding sites by using pesticides, so that malaria infection is brought down to 3.5 percent prevalence by 2025, he added.
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