The granting of local contractors, popularly known as Wazalendo, a huge tender to construct a multi-billion shilling tarmac road covering 50km in Mara Region is a step in the right direction in as far as empowering indigenous companies is concerned.
The move, announced by the Tanzania National Roads Agency (TANROADS) Manager in Mara Region, Eng Emmanuel Korosso, during a Regional Road Board meeting early this week, could not have come at any other better time than this where the industry is booming.
For eons, the construction industry has been complaining of foreign dominance where-by most of the huge projects are awarded to companies from outside the country. This in turn stifles the growth of these companies, despite them failing to grab the chance to prove that they can do the job equally good.
The project to construct Makutano Juu- Sanzate road (50 km) will be executed by Buntu Bridge JV contractors, which is made up of 10 local contractors and the government will pump in about 50bn/- for the project implementation, according to Eng Korosso.
The country has in recent years seen unprecedented growth in construction sector, with mushrooming new houses, multi-storey buildings, roads and bridges.
In fact, this is attributed to increased funding on infrastructure development in every financial year. For example, the government has in the 2013/14 financial year increased spending on infrastructure to 2.16trn/- compared to 1.9trn/- the previous year.
This has seen construction activities growing at an annual rate of eight per cent over the past five years. This is so because for the country’s economy to grow there is need for well developed transport infrastructure like roads, bridges, railways as well as efficient telecommunication network.
The problem of ‘tiny participation’ of local contractors in the country’s fast growing construction sector has been a thorn in the flesh for many engineers who feel more deserve to be done to get rid of that social anomaly.
The contractors Registration Board (CRB), the construction industry’s regulatory body, was quoted saying that foreign contractors, though constituting hardly three per cent of all registered contractors, perform over half of the construction work in the country.
The foreign dominance on the lucrative industry, according to analysts, will cause the country’s huge spending on construction activities to have little, if any, impact. Unlike the local contractors who reinvest their profits, albeit little, foreign companies send all the profits to their home countries. It is on the same background that Eng Korosso reiterated that, “We need to be proud of this.
It means that 50bn/- will remain here (Tanzania).” It is true that the move will go a long way in benefiting locals as the money will be invested locally. Though the awarding of the contract is a good move, it is just but a drop in the ocean as the country is having many mega projects that need local contractors to undertake.
The government and local authorities throughout the country should borrow a leaf from Mara and give preference to local contractors so that they can prove their worth. The local construction industry will continue booming, but local constructors will remain crippled because they do not get the chance to prove that they can do the job.
On the other hand, it is not a matter of awarding these contracts, but contractors should have the capacity to handle the task. In fact, contractors should copy the example set by Wazalendo, who teamed up to apply for the tender. This saw their resources being pooled together and at the end they will have the capacity to tackle big projects.
It is known that most local companies struggle when it comes to capacity and that’s where foreign firms beat them, so to take care of such problem, they need to unite and work together. In so doing, they will benefit a lot and by the end of the day, their companies will grow bit by bit until they are able to stand alone.
And, with the country’s construction industry continuing to grow, more locals should benefit from it. The financial sector and the government on the other hand should avail funding to these contractors to capacitate them so that they can stand a chance in the industry.
Local companies have proved that they can do the job if supported hence it is vital that they get the much needed support for them to succeed. The government and the private sector should use affirmative action when offering these tenders whereby they prioritise local companies.
On the other hand, local contractors should pool resources together to be able to handle such big projects. This will go a long way in promoting not only the growth of the industry but also that of the contractors hence developing the nation.
By SIMBARASHE MSASANURI, Tanzania Daily News
