UNPACKING THE FIFTH PHASE GOVERNMENT’S
INDUSTRIALIZATION MOVE
By Prof. Honest Ngowi
D
ebates and plans on
Tanzania’s fifth phase
government economic
future revolve around the axis
of industrialization. This is the
main economic project for the
fifth phase government. This new
industrialization move is packed
in various documents. They range
from the ruling party’s 2015 election
manifesto to President Magufuli’s
maiden speech in the Parliament
on 20 th November 2016 and the
Second Five Years Development
Plan that saw the light of the day
in July 2016 after coming to end of
its predecessor on the same date.
In order to put all the debates
on this grand move in the right
perspectives, there is a need to
unpack the whole industrialization
move including what it is all about
and why it is important.
to labour – intensive economy.
It took the form of Industrial
Revolution in Western Europe and
North America in the 18 th and 19 th
centuries.
Elsewhere in the economic and
business literature industrialization
is described as the process in which
a country transforms itself from
a basically agricultural society
into one based on manufacturing
of goods and services. Whereas
manual labor is more often than
not replaced by mechanized
and automated high tech-mass
production, craftsmen are replaced
by assembly lines. Industrialization
is associated with the growth
and development of large urban
centers and suburbs. Tanzania may
need to adopt its own definition of
industrialization but it should not
miss out the key components of a
true industrialized economy.
Unpacking industrialization Desired industrialization
At the core of succeeding in
Tanzania’s
industrialization
move lies understanding of what
industrialization means and entails
by all key stakeholders. This is
because a problem known is a
problem half solved. Pass et al (2000)
describe the term industrialization
to imply the extensive development
of organized economic activity
for the purpose of manufacture.
It is characterized by inter alia
transformation of a primarily
agrarian economy into a more
specialized, capital – as opposed Drawing from President Magufuli’s
speech in the Parliament on 20 th
November 2015, there are three
main typologies of industries
that the fifth phase government
desires to attain. These are mass
employment-creating industries;
industries for domestic mass
consumption goods and industries
for export goods. On its part,
the ruling party’s 2015 election
manifesto aims to accomplish
and implement the third phase of
Sustainable Industrial Development
Plan (SIDP) 2010–2020. It also
Convocation Newsletter | 2017
aims at attaining industrial sector
contribution in Vision 2015. It
desires for construction of agro-
processing, middle, large and basic
industries and industries that use
domestic raw materials.
It also desires to strengthen existing
industries and increase industrial
sector GDP contribution from 9.9%
in 2013 to 15% in 2020 and have 40%
of Tanzania’s employment coming
from the industrial sector by 2020. It
also desires to mobilize the private
sector to invest in middle and
large industries and protect them
against competition from foreign
industries. It also desires to increase
sub-regional, regional and global
preferential markets access. Good
as these desires are, there are needs
for for critical and construcive
interogations on what it takes to
attain the desired industrialization
above. Selected thoughts are
shared in what follows.
Employment creating industries
The desire is to have 40% of
employment in Tanzania coming
from the industrial sector by the year
2020 although the current percent
is not given in the said manifesto
or President’s speech. For Tanzania
to attain the mass employment-
creating industrialization, then
it has to opt for labour intensive
industrialization if it means jobs
coming direct from industries.
labour
intensive
production
techniques employ more labour
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