Private sector players in the country have appealed to the government to amend the Special Economic Zone Act and the Tanzania Investment Act to enable the country set up modern industrial parks to attract more investments, particularly from China.

The Executive Director of the Tanzania Private Sector Foundation (TPSF), Mr Godfrey Simbeye, made the call in Dar es Salaam ahead of one-day working visit by China’s Foreign Affairs Minister, Wang Yilanded in the country on Monday.

“The current model of Special Economic Zones in Tanzania is not suitable for attracting massive investments in terms of industries from China which has proved to boast of immense capital to invest in other countries,” Mr Simbeye noted.

Mr Simbeye as well urged the government to form a team of facilitators from the Ministry of Industry and Trade and the Ministry of Finance and Planning to formulate business models of successful industrial parks from China.

“Through this facilitation, we will be able to do away with unpredictable fiscal policies and overlapping of functions among regulatory bodies,” Mr Simbeye explained.

The TPSF top executive noted further that the visit by the Chinese minister is a window of opportunity for Tanzania to access the 60 billion US dollars pledged by China for industrialisation and improvement of infrastructure in four selected countries in Africa.

During the Sixth Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) meeting in South Africa in 2015, Chinese President Xi Jinping pledged the said amount to four African countries namely Tanzania, South Africa, Kenya, and Ethiopia.

“If we put in place favourable investment climate to boost competitiveness, then we will be able to attract more than the 200 factories which are expected from China and this will enable Tanzania to attain middle-income economy by the year 2025,” he remarked.

Mr Simbeye as well urged the government to embark on ‘entrepreneurship diplomacy’ with China to enable Tanzania to acquire skills and technology to develop industries. At the same occasion, the TPSF’s Head of Investment and Enterprise Development, Mr Edward Furaha, cited Ethiopia as among African countries that have emulated China’s industrial parks to boost industrialisation. “These parks, which consist linked factories, facilitate and make it easy for regulatory regimes and investors,” Mr Furaha stated.

Meanwhile, Mr Simbeye revealed that the government of China had offered the private sector in Tanzania a whole floor in a building located in the sprawling port city of Guangzhou to enable smooth linkage of Tanzania and China’s business communities.

Maalim Hussein further predicted that despite the looming famine, the country will in the next three months experience a bumper harvest. “The first day in 2017 was Sunday and according to precognition study, the day falls under the Leo sign, whose origin is fire.

It also means kingdom, administration, political and religious leadership. If the day starts on Sunday, it also shows that the year will be a bit slow. For you to succeed, you need to do things in strides and use your time wisely. Those who will do things in a rush will least succeed this year,” he cautioned.

Furthermore, more religious and political scandals would dominate the year as well as causing the fall of many politicians. “We will also witness accidents that would cause deaths of recognised politicians and religious leaders. They need to be very careful this year,” he warned.

Expounding further, he said there would be controversial statements that will be delivered by national leaders that would cause them to be assassinated or fall out of the political sphere. On the side of social incidents, Maalim Hussein forecasted more fires and floods regardless of the current drought facing various regions in the country, adding that the world might face a number of conflicts that will harm society members.

“Various countries will enter into diplomatic and political misunderstandings that might result into wars. Political leaders need to wisely decide on their actions,” he noted with concern.

The precognition also has it that one big ship will sink while an airplane from a giant country will crash and cause a number of deaths. He further said the economy of the world and Tanzania in general will improve this year compared to last year.