Dar es Salaam. Good morning! The Chanzo is here with a rundown of major news stories reported in Tanzania on Tuesday, March 12, 2024.
World Bank warns of high population growth, urges multisectoral approach
The World Bank launched its annual Tanzania Economic Update report on March 12, 2024, with a focus on overcoming demographic challenges while embracing opportunities.
Unveiled at the Hyatt Hotel in Dar es Salaam, the report underscores that Tanzania’s population is poised to double every 23 years. In a scenario characterized by high fertility rates, the population is projected to swell to nearly 140 million by 2050. This serves as a cautionary signal, indicating an impending surge in demand for social services and employment opportunities.
The 2022 Population and Housing Census, Tanzania put Tanzania’s population to a total of 61.7 million. Therefore, by the year 2050, which is 26 years from now, it is estimated that the population will increase to 78.3 million people.
Providing some examples the report shows that, the annual cost of public education will rise from the current 3.3 percent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to 4.1 percent under the high fertility rate scenario but could drop to 2.9 percent under the low fertility scenario by 2061. Read the full story here.
Tanzania banks warned of cybersecurity threats: ‘Robbers don’t come in through the front door anymore’
Bank robbers rarely come in through the bank’s physical doors, this was a chilling warning from Professor Olanyika David-West, a presenter during the Tanzania’s Conference of Financial Institutions (COFI), an annual event that gathers top executives from Tanzania’s financial sector.
The conference was held in Arusha on March 7 and 8, 2024 at the Arusha International Conference Centre under the theme Strengthening Financial Sector Resilience in Challenging Economic Times.
“The smart thief is already in, through the cables,” underscores Professor Olanyika, an information systems expert who serves as the Associate Dean of the Lagos Business School (LBS).
Olanyika’s warning came at the right time after the recent circular from the Bank of Tanzania revealed losses caused by fraud on mobile and internet banking including cyber-attacks.
The BoT’s circular shows a total of 4. 89 billion Tanzanian Shillings were stolen through mobile and internet banking and Sh. 741 million losses were incurred through ATM Card skimming. These numbers shows cyber threats is a serious risk to the Tanzanian banks. Read the full story here.
Work to Develop the Tanzania Universal Identity Number Jamii Namba Has Started
Plans to have a universal identity number for all Tanzanians from birth, are in the offing and expected to be completed by the end of 2025. This was revealed on March 08, 2024, at Tanzania’s Conference of Financial Institutions (COFI), an annual event that gathers top executives from Tanzania’s financial sector.
“The president has directed us to make sure we have a unique ID for the whole population and this work is ongoing under the collaboration between the Ministry of Information and the National Identification Authority (NIDA),” revealed Engineer Benedict Benny Ndomba, the Director General of the e-Government Authority.
“They are working together to come up with Jamii Namba [Socia Number] which will uniquely identify Tanzanians from birth and foreigners from entry to exit,” added Ndomba.
Ndomba was responding to a question from a member of the audience who asked if the government has plans to ensure children are included in the national identity number. Read the full story here.
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