With the advent of natural gas in Tanzania, there are many players entering the fray to make a contribution in helping the country avoid the ‘resource curse’ or the ‘paradox of plenty’ that have in so many instances shackled many other African resource-rich countries and prevented them from benefiting from extractives.

The Natural Resource Governance Institute (NRGI) has endorsed the civil society Extractive Industry Working Group’s position on the draft petroleum policy that was published last month.

Issues of water, agriculture, health and education all have a heavy bearing on women. According to Policy Forum Budget Working Group (BWG) 2014/15 position statement, 98% of rural women are working in the agriculture sector, majority as small scale farmers. These women who are defined as economically active are engaged in agriculture and produce a substantial share of the food crops for both household consumption and for export.

The Private sector in Tanzania has been urged to create incentives to promote ethical conduct in their businesses such as initiating reward schemes. The call was made by Joel Nanauka, a presenter at the debate when he was presenting on “What are the incentives for Tanzanian businesses to conduct their operations in an ethical manner?” during the Policy Forum breakfast debate slated 26th September 2014.

As part of Policy Forum’s desire to learn from others and share its experiences through collaborative links with like-minded international institutions, the organisation participated in a workshop organized by Justice Africa in Juba, South Sudan to provide technical assistance to its local CSOs.

In April 2014, the Ministry of Energy and Minerals issued a second draft National Petroleum Policy of Tanzania. As natural resources stakeholders, we, the undersigned, appreciate the opportunity tocomment on the draft with the aim of providing inputs for improvement of the draft with national interests at the fore.

We, COMMEND the government for its efforts and determination to manage the resource effectively and strategically for public good;

Following the recent significant discovery of natural gas in Tanzania, the country has emerged as a potential large gas producer in East Africa, generating substantial interest from citizens, civil society and politicians regarding the prospects for the resource to propel the nation’s economic development. The government, to its credit, has embarked on a series of processes to develop policy and legal frameworks that will help govern the exploration, production, transportation and distribution of natural gas.

Tanzania government has been urged to create favorable conditions for the Diaspora, including policies which would enable them to contribute to the development of the country.

This was an appeal emerging from the Breakfast Debate entitled: “Migration and Development in Tanzania: What should Diaspora engagement look like?” that was organised by Policy Forum.

Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) have called upon the government to create greater transparency in state-investor contracts as well as revenues that companies pay the government of Tanzania.

The call was made by CSOs during a training session to familiarise CSOs with the new EITI Standards and the principles of good extractives revenue management, many expressed that this would partly help deal with the problem of lack of accountable management of the sector.

Policy Forum’s Budget Working Group (BWG) has commended the government’s reaffirmed plans to raise revenue and cut down expenditures, especially those that are unnecessary like luxurious vehicles which cost the government heavily in terms of both purchases and maintenance costs.