Angela Mpema

  In the digital trade era of technological advancement and innovation, international trade has greatly benefitted from the development and integration of various electronic interfaces. Growing digital trade activities, e-commerce and artificial intelligence (AI) boosts the free flow of information and increase transparency while improving the efficiency of day-to-day trade processes. The digital economy appears to be a determining factor in innovation. African trade are showing the transformative potential associated with new technologies. Africa is likely to benefit from digital trade in future due to technological advancement. For small businesses in particular, digital platforms have provided unprecedented opportunity to go global. Trade rules as reflected in AfCFTA and Bilateral Agreements can play role in supporting development of e-commerce and use of artificial intelligence in trade in Africa. Pan- African free trade which came to effect into 1st January 2021 will be dri...

In 2005, Tanzania mainland modified its licensing system for electronic communications. Traditional/Vertical licenses, the right to operate a telecom or a broadcasting network and right to provide services on that network) were replaced by Horizontal licenses, the right to operate telecom and broadcasting networks, with a separate license required to provide services on each network. This Converged Licensing Framework (CLF reform was the first of its kind put into practice on the African continent, and allows investors to concentrate on their area of expertise example. network facility, network services, application services, and content services, cross a larger number of previously separate sectors like telecommunications, broadcasting, Internet. This reform should, among other things, facilitate the arrival of telephone services over cable television networks, television services over telecommunications networks, and Internet services over all types of networks . In order for a Fir...

  Over a decade telecommunication industry in Tanzania has experienced a tremendous transformation. Improvement of science and technology has influenced the innovation of more advanced communication methods. There has been a shift from fixed telephone usage to mobile phone usage. In 2019, fixed telephone lines per 100 inhabitants for United Republic of Tanzania was 0.1 numbers per 100 inhabitants (WorldBank, 2019) and it reached 76,288 from 174,511 unit subscribers in 2010. Tanzania has two fixed-line operators TTCL and Zantel and eight operational mobile networks, with four additional players licensed under a new converged regulatory regime. With four major operators Vodacom, Airtel , Tigo and Zantel mobile penetration has reached 83% by March 2017.   There were 47.685million mobile connections in Tanzania in 2019 according to WorldBank . The number of mobile connections in Tanzania  increased  by  26.7 million (+56%) within a decade   between 2010 a...

Most-favored-nation (MFN): treating other Countries equally under the WTO agreements, countries cannot normally discriminate between their trading partners. MFN is stated and explained in the first article of the General Agreement on Tariffs and Trade (GATT), which governs trade in goods. (GATT Art I) GATT Article I:1 provides for WTO Members to extend MFN treatment to like products of other WTO Members regarding tariffs, regulations on exports and imports, internal taxes and charges, and internal regulations. In other words, “like” products from all WTO Members must be given the same treatment as the most advantageous treatment accorded the products of any state. As a member of World Trade Organization, Tanzania benefits from this Principle of Most Favored Nation (MFN under GATT), when it comes to Trading with other Members of WTO. MFN principle increases efficiency in the economy. Tanzania grants MFN on imports that have provided by the most efficient supplier if the most efficient s...

  Tanzania is the eighth among the largest growers of cashew nut in the world and ranks fourth in Africa. As one of the largest Cashew nut producers in Africa, Tanzania’s cashew nut exports provide 10% to 15% percent of the country's foreign exchange. Main production regions are Mtwara, Lindi, Coast as well as Ruvuma and Tanga. The country provides 20% of Africa's cashew nuts (2012, FAO). Cashew nuts have been grown on a commercial scale in the country since the 1950s, developing infrastructure and lack of jobs in the southern region, as a result cashewnut cultivation was highly favored.  The industry almost collapsed in the 1980s. This was largely due to, various government interventions in the harvest, marketing processes and the nationalization of cashew nut processing factories. Also Insufficiency of agricultural inputs and presence of low level of processing to meet critical volumes required in the international markets. Low level of diversification...

The Africa Continental Free Trade Area, AfCFTA is widely seen as a crucial driver for economic growth, industrialization and sustainable development in Africa .The AfCFTA will be an opportunity for Tanzania as a less developing country in Africa to confront the significant trade and current economic development challenges such as; market fragmentation, smallness of national economy, over reliance on the export of primary commodities, narrow export base, caused by shallow manufacturing capacity, lack of export specialization, under-developed industrial regional value chains and high regulatory and tariff barriers to intra-Africa trade amongst others. AfCFTA lowers trade costs and allows consumers to access a greater variety of products at lower prices though Trade liberalization. Lower costs for imported raw materials and intermediate inputs increases competitiveness of downstream producers and promotes the generation of regional value chains. Trade liberalization also allows firms to a...