Tanzania Chamber of Commerce, Industry, and Agriculture Presentation by Mshiu Octavia VP - Industries

About TCCIA The Tanzania Chamber of Commerce, Industry and Agriculture (TCCIA) was established in 1988 It was initiated with the support of the Tanzanian Government to strengthen the private sector. The establishment of the TCCIA was an important step in moving on from a centralized, planned economy towards a more open, mixed economy giving full scope to privately owned enterprises and farms. TCCIA has opened regional offices in all 26 regions of mainland Tanzania and over 92 district centers The centers are autonomous in their operational activities.

Our Services Services provided by TCCIA to the business community include: Business information Most businesses struggle to get the right information at the right time. For example, pastoralist communities sell raw leather at the throw away prices while some factories struggle to get raw materials such as leather We need to increase B2B Networks taking all the advantage of the powerful technological tools of the day Training For the purpose of industrialization, training is key and at TCCIA, we work with our partners to ensure that there human resources have the required skills Advocacy We advocate on behalf of the PS Business supportive initiative (i.e. processing business license) Business promotion activities, For instance, trade fairs and missions

Challenges across sectors Too many Government agencies (oversight bodies) Most business complain about having to comply with too many oversight bodies Eg. Licensing, Quality Assurance, Fire Services, Tax etc Sectors like pharmaceuticals suffer the most from this Most small and medium enterprises (which employ the majority of the people employed in the manufacturing sector) struggle to comply with exporting standards For instance, audits required to meet international (SADC or EU) standards can cost as high as 10,000 USD—too expensive for most SMEs PSOs (in regions) struggle to get the necessary funding to carry out their functions This has made it difficult to higher the required human resources especially in regions Education institutions do not adequately train students for an industrialized economy Most sectors suffer from short supply of adequately trained employees. Eg Textile (fashion)

Recommendations The government should issue appropriate industrial supporting policies The policies and regulations should be modified to control the standard-quality of local products and discourage the importation of readymade, new or used (mitumba) garments The government should formulate appropriate institutions to enhance the dynamic effects of textiles and garments industries Training to the garments makers is of the important value so that they may compete even in the international market Textile, spinning and related factories must be opened in rural areas especially in cotton farming regions This will reduce transportation cost of raw cotton and instead the cotton will leave there as a ready product [fabric] and will create employment in rural areas

Role of Development Partners Development Partners implement multiple projects for the purpose of supporting the Private Sector and Private Sector Organizations. Most of these projects are implemented in isolation Development Partners should involve institutions such as TCCIA for the purpose of increasing coordination and ensuring that projects complement each other Development Partners should also look for opportunities to partner with the Private Sector in Tanzania (finance projects together) Skills and Capacity Building Development partners can help build capacity of PSOs to be better at their daily operations, raising finances, and broadening their networks