Nairobi: Kenyan businesses have started reaping dividends from the removal of restrictions on goods entering Tanzania with exports to East Africa’s second largest economy overtaking those to the United Kingdom and Uganda for the first time in a decade. Data gathered by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics indicates that exports to Tanzania grew by 65.6 per cent from Sh3.6 billion in October to Sh5.9 billion in November.

Dar es Salaam:  Tanzania's horticulture industry is set to produce about US $1 billion revenue in the next three to five years from the export of horticultural product. According to Ms Jacquline Mkindi, the Executive Director for Tanzania Horticultural Association (TAHA), the US $1 billion will be reached from the strategies which the industry has set to target. "This means extending our footprints to the heart of Middle East and Japan," she said.

Dar es Salaam:  The government of Tanzania is so overwhelmed by debts that it has experienced serious financial difficulties in the recent past, President Jakaya Kikwete said Friday.  He did not give details, only pointing out that most had been cleared. Almost all government departments received less than their budgetary allocations for the first half of the 2011/12 financial year, the President declared in Dar es Salaam.

Dar es Salaam: The country's main gateway for imports and exports, Dar es Salaam Port, is realising a marked improvement in handling containers that has risen 16% by end of 2011. This makes Dar es Salaam Port highly competitive along the East African Indian Ocean coast. It means some importers who used Mombasa, Kenya, have diverted  delivery to Dar es Salaam. Transport experts attribute the increase to improvement in the state of roads.

Dar es Salaam:  Tanzania exported goods and services reached $6.776 billion during the year ended November, 2011, an increase by 19.9 per cent compared to the previous year, according to the ministry of Finance and Economic Affairs. The ministry said, through its Macroeconomic Indicators Report issued last week, that non-traditional exports also went up by 21.3 per cent to $3.746 billion while the exports of manufactured goods decreased by 5.3 per cent to $868.8 million in value.

Dar es Salaam:  The general outlook of the first half of the current fiscal year has not looked very healthy because of a number of issues. The period running from July to December 2011 saw the economy rocking because of shilling depreciation, which in turn sparked high commodity prices, particularly of foodstuffs. On the other hand, the government has been taking deliberate measures to try and counter the general trend, particularly aimed at easing inflation and save the fluctuating shilling.

Dar es Salaam:  The government has recorded a budget deficit of about Sh214 billion in the first six months of this financial year partly due to failure of donors to meet their commitments. Finance and Economic Affairs minister Mustafa Mkulo said in a speech at the Annual National Policy Dialogue meeting over the weekend that the deficit was also because of shortfall of collection for non-tax and local government authorities revenue.

Arusha:  Direct investments by British firms to Tanzania are increasing rapidly while UK government aid to the latter for this year is estimated at $250 million, according to the High Commissioner, Ms Diane Corner. The latest entrants in the investment arena include Heritage Rukwa which was among the three foreign companies that last week signed an agreement with the Tanzania government to explore oil and gas.

Dar es Salaam: Donors and development partners have reduced their General Budget Support (GBS) to the government as they announced a commitment of 800bn/- for the 2012/2013 financial year. The support has slightly been scaled down compared to the 1.1tr/- pledged for the 2009/2010 fiscal year, 822bn/- for the 2010/2011 financial year and 840bn/- committed to budget support for the current financial year.

Dar es Salaam: In a wake of poor tracking of mining revenue in the country, a model has been introduced with optimism to filling the vacuum, which so far has seen the country losing billions from its vast mineral resources. Though some mining firms have already started paying various taxes, the Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA) is still convinced that the country doesn’t get what it deserves. However investors on the other hand maintain that what they pay reflects the country’s accounting requirements and other international standards.