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Despite the fifth phase government’s vision to have an industrial based economy gaining momentum, some think it can be accomplished only if the country invests more in Information Communication Technology (ICT).

Various initiatives have been taken to ensure this goal is reached, and one is the establishment of a five year national development plan which puts an emphasis on the establishment of more industries which will contribute directly to the national economy and help curb unemployment.

The plan is also being implemented by various stakeholders, including local government authorities to ensure it is goes down to the grassroots. Mkuranga District in the Coast Region is one of the local authorities that believe ICT is vital as far as attaining the goal is concerned.

Being one of the six districts of the region, Mkuranga District has 56 industries which have already entered into the national strategic plan and have opened up doors for employment, thus making the district exceptional.

The district is in a major plan to establish an ICT system which will help enhance communication between wananchi and other municipal councils in the country. Mshamu Munde, the Mkuranga District Executive Director, recently presented a preliminary plan of the Fibre lay down that will be implemented by a local investor, Raddy Fibre Solution (LTD).

According to Munde, the ICT system dubbed Electronic for Local Government Authority (e-LGA) is expected ease information for local authorities in line with the government Communication system (e –Government) that will hasten availability of information at different levels of local government.

He said the system is expected to cover the whole country, with the intention to smooth communication in business and empower the economy of the citizens. He added that it is time now for all district councils (mainland) to start using e-LGA, as it carries great advantages in enhancing easy communication among individuals at district levels.

Some of the roles of the system to municipal councils are set to match with the roles of Association for Local Authorities Tanzania (ALAT), which is promoting and sustaining goals and ideals of decentralization.

Eng Munde says “LGA will consist of payment system, health information, keep statistics on agriculture and livestock keeping” He says the system will make local government information available straight forward as the e-LGA will ease work and make it efficient compared to the outdated form of communication that is currently being used,” he said.

The district official believes the system will motivate farmers because they will know what they have produced and therefore put more effort in producing more.

Mkuranga District officials believe that if this project succeeds and its implementation begins, the district council will lay down Fibre to all its wards and will be connected from Mkuranga to all 185 councils, which will be a replica of the government’s National ICT Infrastructure Development program to provide ICT broadband connectivity to Tanzanians at all levels (national, regional, district, community, village, and households).

He says it will also assure farmers of markets to sell their crops, giving an example of Mbeya where they grow rice and Mkuranga where they grow cashew nut, saying councils can have joint ventures to ease transportation of their crops as they will easily use the same vehicles.

“A vehicle carrying cashew nut from Mkuranga will return with rice from Mbeya, instead of taking two vehicles, which will ensure that commodities reach consumers in time,” he said.

According to him, the system is aimed at bridging the communication gap that exists among district councils and wananchi. “This e-LGA will cater across all forms of communications among councils and their citizens whom they serve,” said Munde.

The government of Tanzania is constructing the National Fibre Optic Cable network dubbed National ICT Broadband Backbone (NICTBB) with a view to achieve its ICT vision.

The Backbone is managed and operated by the Tanzania Telecommunications Company Ltd (TTCL) on behalf of the government, through the Ministry of Communication, Science and Technology (MCST) The infrastructure will enhance usage of ICT applications for sustainable socio- economic development, including implementation of e-government, e-learning, ehealth, e-commerce and much more locally and globally.

In 2015, the government announced that the third phase of national fiber optic backbone project will soon start with plans to expand improved next generation network infrastructure and intends to invest around 94 million US dollars, making the nation a regional hub for communication services.

Experts say Tanzania is located at a strategic location that is easily accessible from Asian continents and Middle East countries via sea, and Western, Southern, Northern and Central African nations via land.

They believe Tanzania has the potential to become a regional hub for communication. Tanzania had invested to build fiber optic networks that connected major cities and important administrative units with high speed communication lines.

The government-driven investment in the fiber optic national backbone would place Tanzania among the favorite investment locations and highly respected in the region.

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Quelle/Source: Daily News, 25.11.2017

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