Chief Secretary to the Government (Presidency)

H.E Jakaya Kikwete has had two wonderful terms that has put Tanzania on the right track to attain its Vision 2025 – to make Tanzania a Middle-Income Country. What in your opinion are the President’s main achievements?

President Kikwete has successfully continued the tradition of “change and continuity” in this country, whereby each president introduces some changes while ensuring continuity in those pillars of what defines us as Tanzanians. The pillars include an entrenched sense of nationhood that holds together the more that 125 tribes, with different religious beliefs, and ensure they define themselves first and foremost as Tanzanians. Another pillar that has been preserved through all administrations in Tanzania is one of peace, unity, human rights and democratic traditions. We believe that these, and other pillars, are key to the attainment of the Tanzania Development Vision 2025. President Kikwete successfully ensured their continuity.  

The changes that PresidentKikwete introduced were, to a large extent, not so much policy related but were more of finding new ways to speed up implementation of economic and social policies geared toward the attainment of Vision 2025. I will give a few examples:

• Following an evaluation that showed that at the speed at which we were moving we could not meet our Vision 2025, he decided that we should have a Long Term Development Perspective Plan for the remaining 15 years of implementing the Vision, that is from 2010/11 to 2025/26. The Long Term Development Perspective Plan was broken down into Five Year Development Plans, each one being a building block for the next plan, and all geared to accelerate implementation of Vision 2025. The first Five Year Development Plan focussed on unlocking Tanzania’s economic growth potential by addressing major constraints, including infrastructure. The second Five Year Development Plan, (2016/17 to 2020/21) will focus on building an industrial base. The final plan, (2021/22 to 2025/26) will focus on building export competitiveness.
• President Kikwete also decided to address the issue of government delivery, in order to fast-track attainment of Vision 2025. Three years ago, he launched the Big Results Now! Initiative, which has up to now identified seven priority National Key Result Areas, where a more rigorous implementation and monitoring process would be applied. These were agriculture; education; central transport corridor; energy; water; health; business environment and resource mobilization. The results have been very impressive, and were independently audited and then validated by an independent international panel of respected leaders from different parts of the world and backgrounds.
• President Kikwete’s administration has invested heavily in improving infrastructure as a way to remove infrastructure-related obstacles to growth. The most notable achievements have been roads and bridges, power generation, transmission and distribution, and water. During his two terms, 5,568 km of tarmac roads were completed, and another 3,873 km are under construction. Feasibility studies and detailed designs have been completed for another 4,909 km of roads and construction can begin once funding is sorted out. Another 3,356 km of roads are undergoing feasibility studies and detailed design. Additionally, 12 heavy bridges have been completed as well as 7,200 light ones. Another 7 major bridges are currently under construction.
• With regard to electricity, when President Kikwete came into Office, only about 10 per cent of Tanzanians had access to electricity. Today, the ratio is almost 40 per cent, with about 5,336 villages connected to electricity under a major rural electrification program.
• Recognizing the importance of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) for rapid transportation, under President Kikwete’s leadership Tanzania invested heavily in ICT infrastructure. Tanzania is now connected to the global optic fiber ICT gateway through the East African Submarine Cable and the SEACOM network positioning itself to be a regional ICT hub. Under President Kikwete’s leadership Tanzania has built the National Information and Communication Technology Broadband Backbone, with 7,500 km of optic fiber cable laid out to reach 24 regional headquarters as well as providing cross-border connectivity to neighbouring countries. As a result, the cost of making calls has dropped by 57 per cent and internet services are now 75 per cent cheaper. The number of internet users has increased from 3.4 million in 2008 to 9.6 million in 2014, while mobile phone customers have increased from 2.96 million in 2005 to 28.3 million in 2014.
• President Kikwete also focussed on human development as well as human resource capacity development, with significant increases in access to and uality of health care and education. The number of universities has increased from 33 in 2007 to 48 in 2014, with students increasing from around 40,000 when he came into Office to 158,705 last year.
• Recognizing the importance of the private sector in economic growth and the realization of Vision 2025, President Kikwete has continued to promote foreign and domestic private sector investment as well as create the institutional and regulatory framework for Public-Private Partnerships. The number of small, medium and large industries has increased four-fold from 11,544 when he came into Office to 51,224 now.
• Overall, Tanzania has registered respectable economic growth rates during President Kikwete’s term of Office. There has been significant reduction in poverty rates, improvements in access and quality of social services. A stable macroeconomic environment and policy regime that is conducive to business has resulted in economic growth averaging 6.8 per cent during President Kikwete’s term of Office, making Tanzania one of the top 20 fastest growing economies in the world during that time. Per capita income has almost tripled, from less than USD 400 in 2006 to USD 1,044 now. Poverty rates have declined from almost 35 per cent when be came into Office to 28.2 per cent in 2012, and food self-sufficiency has increased from 92 per cent in 2010 to 125 per cent last year

As the Chief Secretary to the Government - What is your role and responsibility to the President and the State House?

There are four main responsibilities for the Chief Secretary. The Chief Secretary is the Permanent Secretary to the President, and has the responsibility to ensure that the President’s Office runs smoothly and the President’s will is done. As Chief Secretary I am also Secretary to the Cabinet and as such I am Chief Executive Officer of the Cabinet Office. I ensure the Cabinet Office runs smoothly, and that Cabinet decisions are based on sound technical analysis. I also ensure Cabinet decisions are communicated to the responsible implementing authorities and are actually implemented and reported on. The Chief Secretary is also Head of the Public Service, and as such is the Chief Executive Officer of the Service. He provides leadership, direction and image to the Service. He ensures that public servants are trained, motivated, efficient and effective and that the Service is free of corruption and other unethical tendencies. I am responsible for authorizing all new appointments, and for confirmation of public servants appointed by the President. I am also the disciplinary authority in respect of public servants appointed by the President. The Chief Secretary is also the overall highest ranking disciplinary authority in the Service.

Tanzania seems to be very attractive to investment. In your opinions, what are the sectors that are very attractive for the investors should come?

Historically, there was a lot of interest in the mining industry. Tanzania is now the fourth largest producer of gold in Africa. However, the interest now is in oil and gas. Natural gas has been discovered in large quantities. Currently we have over 55 TCF of confirmed natural gas reserves. We have built a new gas pipeline from Mtwara to Dar es Salaam. This will allow the country to reduce the cost of electricity generation and maintain our competitive advantage on several markets. Other sectors where we have witnessed large investments include telecommunications, banking, insurance, tourism and others. The United States is now the number one source of tourists for Tanzania, which is a big achievement considering the distance people have to travel from that country to Tanzania. This is also an illustration of the quality of tourism products we offer and the promotional work we have done. Last, but not least, Tanzania is a very peaceful country, which offers a stable political, economic and social environment, all of which are conducive to investment.

Oil and Gas may offer a bright future for Tanzania aiming at becoming an Energy Hotspot in the region – Are these discoveries more of a blessing or a curse to you?

Actually, oil and gas can be a blessing or a curse depending on what a country does with it. One of our priorities in Tanzania is to make sure that oil and gas discoveries become a blessing and not a curse for the country. Therefore, we have tried to learn as much as we can on what has happened elsewhere globally. We have worked with people such as the Natural Resource Charter who have consolidated what could be considered best practices, learning from both those who have benefited from the extractive industry and those who haven’t benefited. In so doing we learn what is helpful and we also learn what should be avoided. Two years ago we established an expert panel that tried to benchmark everything we were doing against what is emerging as global best practice. We have a robust policy on Local Content, to ensure the local economy benefits from oil and gas extraction. We have just promulgated key legislations, such as the Petroleum Act 2015, The Tanzania Extractive Industries (Transparency and Accountability Act), 2015, and the Oil and Gas Revenue Management Act, 2015, all of which are key instruments in ensuring that we get this right. Therefore, while it is true that Oil and Gas discovery can be a blessing or a curse, we strongly believe that in our country the discovery is going to be a blessing and not a curse. We are really working hard to ensure we succeed.

What does the Global 2013 Smart Partnership dialogue mean to Tanzania?

Tanzania belongs to the Smart Partnership movement, which is really a place where you bring in people together, in an unstructured way, in order to tackle an issue from different perspectives and find the way to move forward together, with everyone benefiting. That is why in 2013 we hosted the Smart Partnership Dialogue in Tanzania. The topic that we chose was on how to leverage technology for socio-economic transformation. It was very successful because we all realize that Information and Communications Technology (ICT) is a platform that can help governments to deliver, but it can also unlock potentials of human beings to achieve great things. The Global 2013 Smart Partnership dialogue in Tanzania was very fruitful, and it has helped us to enhance technology and innovation in government and in life.

How do you think Harvard Business Review can help Tanzania for example?

I actually read the Harvard Business Review (HBR) and I benefit from all the articles and discussions that it contains. I would encourage the HBR to pay more attention to what is happening in countries such as Tanzania, and the rest of Africa. I believe readers of the Harvard Business Review will benefit from a deeper and objective understanding of our countries and the opportunities we offer. The Africa of today and tomorrow is an opportunity, not a burden. Therefore, in my opinion HBR should provide global knowledge and perspective, and that has to include Africa.

I know you have been an Ambassador of Tanzania to the US and we would like to know what you are implementing now that you were implementing in your previous position?

Firstly, I should say, I am a career diplomat. I have worked for many years in Tanzania’s Foreign Service, but I have also spent a lot of time working for presidents. I was here in the State House for 13 years working for two consecutive presidents. I worked as Speechwriter and Personal Assistant to the second President of Tanzania, His Excellency Ali Hassan Mwinyi, who took over from our first President, Mwalimu Julius Kambarage Nyerere. I worked for almost ten years for His Excellency Benjamin William Mkapa, the third President of our country. Thereafter, I went back to the diplomatic service as High Commissioner (Ambassador) to Canada, with multiple accreditation to Cuba. Then I was appointed Ambassador to the United States with multiple accreditation to Mexico, before becoming Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the United Republic of Tanzania to the United Nations in New York, the post I held until my appointment to the present post of Chief Secretary towards the end of 2011. I can say that my experience and the years I spent outside the country as a diplomat have helped to shape my own thinking and outlook and really giving me a clear sense of where I would like to see our country, Tanzania, go.

What is your career plan now?

Chief Secretary, as I said, is the Chief Executive Officer of the entire Public Service. This is the highest position in the Public Service, unless I go into politics, but I am not keen on joining politics. Therefore, I just focus on doing the best I can for my country while in this position, and I look forward to a contented life in retirement, hoping future generations will enjoy the fruits of the foundations of development that I have helped to build for our country.

What would you like to share with Harvard Business Review readers to know about Tanzania?

I would like Harvard Business Review readers to be part of efforts to change people’s perception of Tanzania and Africa. There is an unfortunate tendency to generalize Africa in the West. For instance, the Ebola outbreak was reported as if all African countries had been gripped with the disease, while it was only occurring in a few countries in West Africa. This tendency to generalize Africa can sometimes be quite irritating like when we see a number of sectors, such as tourism, being affected by such misconception and misrepresentation. Africa, as a whole, provides a lot of opportunities for foreign countries. My concern is that Western investors do not see Africa in a long-term perspective. For those that dare, Africa provides huge opportunities for business across the world. Therefore, I would really encourage readers of Harvard Business Review to come to Africa and see Africa in a more objective way, with a long-term perspective. For, Africa is truly the last investment frontier; an opportunity, not a burden.