RUVUMA RC: BOOST TRADE TIES WITH MOZAMBIQUE AND MALAWI

Tarehe ya kuwekwa: April 4th, 2024

By Alex Nelson Malanga

Information Officer….Mbinga TC

Mbinga. Ruvuma Regional Commissioner Hon. Colonel Ahmed Abbas Ahmed late last week directed Mbinga Town Council to bolster trade ties with neighbouring countries of Mozambique and Malawi.

Speaking here during his first meeting with Mbinga Town Council Finance Committee and management team, Hon. Ahmed said his directives was as per the instructions of the President of the United Republic of Tanzania Hon. Dr. Samia Suluhu Hassan.

It should be recalled that Mbinga Town Council is rich in production of food and cash crops, the opportunity of which if well utilized, it will help us to boost trade with Mozambique and Malawi.  

“Hon. President wants us to cement our trade ties with neighbouring countries of Mozambique and Malawi,” underscored Hon. Ahmed.

He went further to say: “For us to boost trade volume with our neighbouring countries, we have no option, but to continue creating a friendly business environment.”

Going by the Observatory of Economic Complexity (OEC), a data visualization site for international trade data, in 2022 trade volume between Tanzania and Mozambique stood at $81.8 million (about Sh209.8 billion).

Under the period of review, Tanzania exported $64.5 million (about Sh165.4 billion) to Mozambique, with the main exports being petroleum gas, bedspreads and glass bottles.

On the other hand, during the same year Mozambique exported $17.3 million (about Sh44.4 billion) to Tanzania, with the main exports being stranded aluminium wire, large construction vehicles and delivery trucks.

Meanwhile, during the same year of 2022, trade volume between Tanzania and Malawi stood at $111.5 million (about Sh286 billion).

During the period, according to OEC, Tanzania exported $38.7 million (about Sh99.3 billion) to Malawi, with the main products being cleaning products, glass bottles and beauty products.

In the same vein, Malawi exported $72.8 million (about Sh186.7 billion) to Tanzania, with the main products being groundnuts, soybeans and soybean meal.

Mbinga Town Council Chairperson Hon. Kelvin Mapunda said: “We are committed to creating an enabling business environment with a view to boosting trade volume with our neighbouring countries.”

For her part, Mbinga Town Council director Ms. Amina Seif pledged: “We will always be there to facilitate business and not to frustrate business people.”  

Despite the continent’s huge potential and natural resources endowment, available data show that intra-African trade stands at only 20 percent of the continent’s total trade with the rest of the world.