Tanzanians are less prosperous than they were three years ago, a newly-released report shows.
The country has fallen eight places in the Africa Prosperity Index, dropping from 11th place in 2012 to 19th in the latest ranking that measures success beyond the traditional measures.
According to Legatum Institute’s research which studied 38 African countries, Tanzania is the only East African country to nosedive whereas neighbours Rwanda, Kenya and Uganda have all gained. Rwanda climbed from 13th place in 2012 to eighth, Kenya from 17th to 13th and Uganda from 18th to 14th.
The drastic fall has come thanks to sorry average performance in eight specific areas studied, namely economy, entrepreneurship and opportunity, governance, education, health, safety and security, personal freedom and social capital.
The country has recorded the poorest in personal freedom category, where it fell from 24th in the last study to 28th. Its best performance posted is in social capital where it ranked ninth but was pulled down by lacklustre outcome in the remaining categories. In economy it ranked 11th, entrepreneurship and opportunity (19th), governance (16th), education (18th), health (18), safety and security (23rd).
Although Tanzania’s education score rose by one place in the ranking, the report authors maintained that the country needs to improve the quality of education in schools rather than focusing on enrollment rates alone.
“Tanzanian education is not producing graduates with the skills needed to work in the formal sector,” the report reads in part. “The lack of an adequately skilled workforce is a hindrance to investment in sectors such as manufacturing, construction, mining, agriculture, finance, and communications...Tanzania needs education that improves students’ chances of finding employment.”
The poor report card, especially in the area of education, stands in sharp contrast to progress story that is being reported in recent years. Last month, media outlets splashed a feel-good story about a sterling form six results where 98.87 per cent of candidates who sat their national examinations earlier in the year had passed. This was preceded by a 98.26 per cent pass rate the previous year.
While announcing the results in Zanzibar, National Examinations Council of Tanzania Executive Secretary Charles Msonde said the performance was an indication that the education sector was set to record impressive achievements under the Big Results Now (BRN) initiative.
“If Tanzania is to accelerate development, to take advantage of globalisation and of its membership of the East African community, its human resources must be competitive. That means giving its young the knowledge, skills, and capabilities demanded by a 21st-century global labour market,” the study recommends.
Overall, Rwanda has emerged the best improver, gaining five ranking places to end up as the eighth most prosperous country in Africa. The country was found to have the sixth highest ranking in regulation and government effectiveness, the eighth highest score in rule of law and the lowest perceptions of corruption in Africa. It is the only East African country to have made it in the coveted Top Ten. Others are South Africa (second), Morocco (third), Namibia (fourth), Tunisia (fifth), Algeria (sixth), Ghana (seventh), Burkina Faso (ninth) and Senegal (tenth).
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