Africa countries can do without ICC – Tanzania envoy

Tanzania is becoming a tourists’ destination. How much does your country generate from it annually and what other sector contribute to your Gross Domestic Product (GDP)?Actually, tourism is just one of the major sources of our economy but Tanzania depends mainly on agriculture as 80 percent of her population engages in agriculture rather than tourism. […]

Tanzania is becoming a tourists’ destination. How much does your country generate from it annually and what other sector contribute to your Gross Domestic Product (GDP)?
Actually, tourism is just one of the major sources of our economy but Tanzania depends mainly on agriculture as 80 percent of her population engages in agriculture rather than tourism. Tourism is becoming an industry which is now generating a lot of GDP from its activities. But the main area that contributes to our economy and growth is agriculture.
Tanzania is a major producer of coffee, tea and cotton which are mainly exported. Tourism is also another industry that is picking up rapidly because Tanzania is blessed with beautiful beaches, natural parks and also the highest mountain in Africa, Mount Kilimanjaro.
Is there any collaboration in the agriculture with Nigeria since you said your main source of revenue is from agriculture and Nigeria has agriculture potential?
We have a lot of areas to collaborate with Nigeria not only in the area of agriculture but also in the area of trade because we are planning to increase the trade volume between the two countries.
We are engaging with Nigeria in the area of agriculture with the professionals but we want to engage more in trade and so far we are in the process of finalising the draft of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in terms of trade relation.
What particular aspect of agriculture would your country like to collaborate with Nigeria?
This is what we are trying now to do. But we need to finalise the Memorandum of Understand first on trade so when we finish that we will be able to establish a formal cooperation of trade. But what we have now is the individual trade relations. I mean people-to-people cooperation. Also in the area of industrial sector, we are welcoming Nigerians to come and invest in Tanzania and so far we have Dangote Company and they are in the process of constructing a cement industry in Tanzania.
What is the volume of trade between Nigeria and Tanzania?
We don’t have the exact figure now but it is still very low and that is why we are trying to boost it with this MoU and we are encouraging Nigerian people to go to Tanzania to explore more and that is why we are issuing a lot of visas for Nigerians to explore and see areas of possible interest with their counterparts in Tanzania. In the professional segment we encourage many Nigerian expatriates to go to Tanzania and vice-versa to exchange area of agriculture expertise and research.
How can you describe your role as a country in East Africa?
Tanzania has a lot to contribute in the East African region. Tanzania is a huge country in the sub-region compare to others and we also have a huge a market. We specialise in food production which we export to Kenya, Rwanda and Burundi.
Not only that, Tanzania also is trying to contribute to peacekeeping in the region as we are now in the Democratic Republic of Congo and we think that if we want to develop our economy we need to have peace. So we think also that maintaining peace is part of our agenda.
What is the area of interest to Tanzania investors visiting Nigeria?
So far the area of interest is buying of African clothing  materials.  I mean African fabrics in the Nigerian markets but also they are coming to explore what they can sell in Nigeria markets that are produced in Tanzania like cashew nuts.
How long does it take to secure a Tanzania visa?
It takes between one to two days. Here we don’t have such hurdles people face to get visa to some countries. Of course we do the scrutiny other embassies do but for us we don’t keep them long.
Do you have any Nigerian in Tanzania prisons, if there are, what is their offences?
I don’t have the exact figure but I know we do have some Nigerians in the prisons. I know that there are some of them who are into some criminal offences in some other countries but the percentage is still very low in Tanzania unlike what we hear from other countries.
Most of them engaged in drug trafficking and actually they are not coming from Tanzania but are coming from other neighbouring countries like South Africa and Ethiopia but transited through Tanzania.
Is there any prison transfer agreement between Nigeria and your country for Nigerians there to serve their jail terms back home?
So far I don’t know if there is any agreement in that area. I will need to check with the ministry of Home Affairs because they are the ones dealing with that.
What has been Tanzania’s contribution to the African Union?
Tanzania is now a member of peace and security committee of the African Union and through the effort of AU we are also trying to curb this issue of terrorism together with other countries in Africa and also through the membership we are trying also to restore peace in the region like peace keepers in Darfur and in DRC.
What is Tanzania’s stand on the issue of International Criminal Court (ICC) indicting African leaders?
First of all Tanzania is not a member of the ICC. In our region it is only Kenya that is a member and they are thinking of getting out of it. In my view, I don’t think African countries need ICC because we can use our AU organs to fight against any issue of human crisis or any one we feel is doing wrong in the continent. We don’t need the ICC but if you become a member you have to abide with their rules. We think that there is a kind of misunderstanding on how to deal with issue of African crises.
I think we should use our own house to solve any crisis within Africa but if we feel that we can still need some support we can consult AU rather than western countries or ICC. I think we still have power and effort to fight against our own criminalities within the African region rather than depend on ICC.