DAR ES SALAAM, Jan 24 Tanzania has begun implementing a nationwide program to establish district-level industrial parks and clusters to add value to products from agriculture, livestock, fisheries, mining, forestry and construction, Minister for Industry and Trade Judith Kapinga said on Saturday.
Kapinga told a news conference in the capital Dodoma that sites for industrial streets and clusters have been identified and preparatory work completed. Eleven regions have started infrastructure construction and rehabilitation, while four have already finished the process.
Preliminary assessments in these regions have mapped entrepreneurs’ needs and high-potential investment areas, she added.
To sustain the program, the ministry, in collaboration with the Ministry of Planning and Investment through the Small Industries Development Organization (SIDO), has launched a special investment plan to support 100,000 youth-led businesses through inclusive financing, infrastructure and export market access, said the minister.
Special youth industrial zones have been designated in regions including Dar es Salaam, Mwanza, Arusha, Songwe, Kigoma and Ruvuma. Over the next six years, the plan targets the creation of more than 9,000 new industries and over 6.5 million jobs.
The government is decentralizing industries to rural and peri-urban areas to raise farmers’ incomes and expand youth ownership of factories, while continuing to improve the business climate and seek international markets for Tanzanian products, Kapinga said.
