Tanzania - The African Mirror

Sep

2023

Broken infrastructure, drought cause power rationing in Tanzania, official says

MAINTENANCE issues and climate change-induced water shortages have caused a 400-megawatt electricity shortfall in Tanzania, triggering power rationing across the East African nation, the state power supplier said. Tanzania's national grid, which has an installed capacity of more than 1,900 MW, was suffering from broken infrastructure at gas wells and gas-fired power stations, as well as reduced water levels at hydropower dams, said Gissima Nyamo-Hanga, managing director of the Tanzania Electric Supply Company (TANESCO). TANESCO, which is wholly owned by the government, expects to complete maintenance operations and resolve the shortfall by the end of March next year, Nyamo-Hanga told…

Sep

2023

By The African Mirror

Tanzania has started domestic gold purchases to boost forex reserves

BUSINESS

TANZANIA has started buying gold locally as a way of boosting its foreign exchange reserves, the central bank said. The central bank first announced its intention of buying gold in late August. "The bank is therefore purchasing gold from domestic miners and traders, in Tanzanian shillings," Bank of Tanzania (BOT) said in a statement. On Friday, Central Bank Governor Emmanuel Tutuba said they were planning to buy six tonnes of gold from small and middle-scale miners and other traders by the end of the year and had already bought and sold 418 kg (921.53 lb) of the precious metal. Gold…

Jul

2023

By The African Mirror

Morocco gets kind draw in Africa qualifiers for 2026 World Cup

FOOTBALL

WORLD Cup semi-finalists Morocco have been handed a gentle path to the 2026 tournament in the United States, Mexico and Canada after the draw was made for the African qualifiers in Abidjan. The top team in each of the nine groups, which each contains six countries, qualifies automatically for the World Cup. The four best runners-up will enter an African playoff stage, where the winners will feature in the inter-confederation playoffs to be held in March 2026. It means Africa is guaranteed nine places at the expanded 48-team finals, with a 10th side possibly added via the playoffs. Morocco has…

May

2023

By SETH ONYANGO, BIRD STORY AGENCY

Five African countries to join tier-topping economic growth list amid GDP rebound

NEWS

BENIN, Côte d'Ivoire, Ethiopia, Rwanda, and Tanzania are on course to post some of the strongest economic growth rates globally - a show of resilience in the face of troubling global headwinds. A robust combination of domestic policy reforms, increased investment and strategic sectors will mark those nations' outstanding economic outcomes, according to the African Economic Outlook 2023. The countries are bright spots in a continental economy still shaking off residual pandemic shocks. Amid a flurry of global and local challenges, African economies are exhibiting impressive overall resilience, however, with average growth predicted to stabilise at 4% in 2023-24, surpassing…

May

2023

By The African Mirror

Musicians launch drive for more funding for arts in Africa

ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT

PERFORMERS from Ghana, Ethiopia and Tanzania have helped launch a five-year project to try to secure more funding for arts and culture, aiming to persuade African governments to allocate at least 1% of their budgets. The project, called Connect for Culture Africa (CfCA) has been started by the African Union in collaboration with Selam Ethiopia, a non-governmental organisation that uses film, music and circus performances to address issues such as women's rights. "We want to empower artists. A lot of artists want to participate in these discussions about good governance, human rights but they are scared of the consequences," Lucy…

May

2023

By The African Mirror

Young Africans to meet USM Alger in African Confederation Cup final

FOOTBALL

YOUNG Africans became the first team from Tanzania in 30 years to reach a continental club competition final when they beat Marumo Gallants of South Africa 2-1 away on Wednesday to book a date with USM Alger in the final of the African Confederation Cup. Congolese forward Fiston Mayele scored the first goal and set up the second for Kennedy Musonda with a mazy run from inside his own half as Yanga won away at the Royal Bafokeng Sports Palace, some 200km from Johannesburg, in the second leg of their semi-final. It ensured a 4-1 aggregate triumph as they followed…

Apr

2023

By The African Mirror

SA officials in Arusha to bring killer-rapist fugitive home

NEWS

STAFF REPORTER TWO men - aged 39 and 65 - who played roles in the elaborate escape from prison of kiler-rapist Thabo Bester have been arrested and are expected in court in South Africa on Tuesday. The 39 year-old is a former prison warder who is believed to have been bribed to play a major role in the escape of Bester in 2022. Bester was recaptured in Arusha, Tanzania traveling with his girlfriend Dr Nandipha Magudumana and a Mozambican national. The 65 year-old is believed to be Magudumana’s father who was arrested at his Port Alfred, Eastern Cape home on…

Apr

2023

By The African Mirror

Kamala Harris announces Tanzania trade boost during Africa tour

NEWS

NUZULACK DAUSEN U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris announced plans to boost trade with and investment in Tanzania during a visit there, part of an African tour aimed at strengthening ties with a continent where China and Russia increasingly hold sway. Harris started her trip on Sunday in Ghana before flying late on Wednesday to Tanzania's commercial capital Dar es Salaam, where she met President Samia Suluhu Hassan on Thursday. The two women gave short statements to the media before going into a longer session of private talks. "Working together, it is our shared goal to increase economic investment in Tanzania…

Mar

2023

By The African Mirror

Kamala Harris wraps up Ghana visit, heads to Tanzania

NEWS

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris will meet Ghanaian women entrepreneurs to discuss economic empowerment and leadership, her last engagement in Accra before heading to Tanzania to continue her week-long African tour. Harris is the latest U.S. government figure to visit African countries, after Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and Secretary of State Antony Blinken, as Washington strives to counterbalance growing Chinese and Russian influence on the continent. Since landing in Ghana on Sunday, Harris has met President Nana Akufo-Addo, participated in a state banquet, given a speech to young people about innovation and women's empowerment, and visited a 'slave castle' that was the last…

Feb

2023

By The African Mirror

Tanzania has ditched school rankings. It should replace them with something more useful

EDUCATION

WHILE announcing the results of the 2022 Certificate of Secondary School Examination, Tanzania’s National Examination Council did not provide school rankings for the first time in decades. School rankings have been announced for national primary and secondary school exams every year since the early 1990s. The rankings have become the main national talking point and students and parents often use them to determine school choices. Author SIMON NGALOMBA, Post-Doctoral Research Fellow, SARChI in Higher Education and Human Development Research Group, University of the Free State Explaining the decision, education minister Professor Adolf Mkenda said the examination council had decided in…