Day 6: University of Dar

Tuesday 3/18/08

We spend the whole day at the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM). Their campus is located 13 km northwest of the city center and sits on 1,600 acres of vast greenery where monkeys are a common sight. Students sitting in groups under trees share course materials that are often not available to them. We had a short bus tour of the campus and its history. In 1960 UDSM used to be a part of University of East Africa (others located in Kenya and Uganda) with a focus on law. Even now UDSM has the largest law faculty in the region. We visited Entrepreneurship department that was established in 1999. UDSM has around 20,000 enrolled students, 2500 post-graduates, 35% of them are women. 16% of post-graduate students run their own business. They also have a very high graduation rate - 80%. In 2007 they established the Alumni Society and we learn Reginald Mengi is a member.

The school needs faculty staff and encourages post-graduate students to teach. To become a full professor you need to follow these stages: 1) tutor assistant - usually MBA students with a minimum GPA of 4 (out of 5) 2) assistant lecturer with a Master degree 3) Lecturer with a PhD. 4) Senior lecture 5) associate professor 6) full professor.

Current job demands in Tanzania are in accounting and finance. Marketing department is not much developed; they lack graduates and don't offer many courses. They should expand this program considering they are in high demand for quality customer service.

Our first lecture by Mr. Kingazi was on "Opportunities and Challenges for Private sector Development in Tanzania. Here is a brief history of private sectors since Tanzania's Independence:

1961: Tanganyika

1964: Tanganyika + Zanzibar + Pemba = Tanzania

1967-1985: Socialism

1986-1995: Economic Liberalization and privatization.

1996 - Present: Implementation of Private Sector strategy. Private sector recognized.

They formed Business Trade Associations overseeing private sectors and government policy. Some important facts about different sectors:

1) Agriculture - 46% of country's GDP

- Beef processing in demand (currently only 1)

- Poultry Industry - 3 processing plants in place

- Beekeeping - problems with quality control, no standards

2) Mining 3% (poor managing; handled by Anglo-American group)

3) Tourism 25% (one of the most growing sectors)

4) Manufacturing 9%

5) Telecommunication

6) Banking - only 9% of eligible are served

7) Education & Health services - emerging markets

There is an agency Tanzania Investment Center (TIC) - investors guide to Tanzania.

In the afternoon we met with a delegate from the CEO Roundtable. It's a group of 40 CEOs from various industries that works with the government on creating a better business environment. Current major challenges are corruption and administrative bureaucracy. There is a slow process and it can take 145 days to receive a trade license. Many of us saw corruption as a major obstacle in investing in Tanzania.

There was so much we learn today and I enjoyed interacting with students. One student owns a tourist company that targets mostly Europeans and Russians. He also has a mango farm but can't export to western countries due to the size of the fruit. For now he exports to South Africa where they make fruit juices (perhaps Ceres).

Image: Post-graduate students of Dar and I.

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