Pato la Taifa unalijua? Usiwe kama Machadema hamnazo
Na hii ilikuwa 2022 diaspora waliingiza zaidi ya dola bilioni moja, sasa 2024 itakuwa double na itazidi sekta zote za uchumi, jieleimishe acha siasa majitaka
TANZANIA is now earning more foreign exchange from diaspora remittances in comparison to some of its major exports including traditional exports and cereals.
President Samia Suluhu Hassan revealed on Wednesday that the contribution of Tanzanian diaspora in terms of remittances and investments amounted to 2.5tri/- last year.
According to statistics from the Bank of Tanzania (BoT), the total value for traditional exports exceeded 758.4 million US dollars (about 1.7tri/-) and cereals amounted to over 244.7 million US dollars (about 562.8bn/-) in the year ending March 2023.
Among such traditional exports are goods including coffee, cashewnuts, tobacco and tea.
Through the Twitter handle which was accompanied by a photo combo, President Samia noted that after taking part at the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Extraordinary Organ Troika Summit (EO-OTS) in Windhoek, Namibia, she got a chance to speak with a section of Tanzania diaspora and their families who live in the country.
“Like other Tanzanians who live in the various areas globally, our relatives from Namibia have been contributing highly to the country through investment in the various sectors and a remittance that now stands at over 2.5tri/- sent to their family members and relatives,” said Dr Samia.
Recently, Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation Minister Dr Stergomena Tax revealed that the contribution of the Diaspora has continued to steadily increase, citing data from the Central Bank of Tanzania (BoT), which shows that remittance accounted for 400 million US dollars about 937bn/- (2020) to 569.3 million US dollars about 1.3tri/- (2022).
Likewise, the diaspora invested 3.9bn/- in UTT mutual funds and bought houses worth 2.3bn/- in the country, indicating that the ministry has continued to encourage the group in foreign countries to register themselves.
Last month during the question-and-answer Parliament session, the Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation, Ambassador Mbarouk Nassor told the August House that Tanzanians living abroad have injected a total of 4.4bn/- in the real estate sector and invested 2.5bn/- through acquisition of shares from different companies.
“The diaspora has had a major contribution through foreign currency (remittance), expertise and technology that can promote the production of various products and services in the country,” noted the Deputy Minister.
The deputy minister was responding to a question asked by Mikumi Legislator Dennis Londo (CCM), who wanted to know the total number of Tanzanians living abroad and their contribution to the country’s development.