by Donovan McGrath

Zanzibar beer: Alcohol shortage hits Tanzania’s spice islands
(BBC News online – UK) The spice islands of Zanzibar are facing a shortage of alcohol which threatens the tourism sector of Africa’s top travel destinations. Extract continues: Tourism generates about 90% of the Tanzanian archipelago’s foreign revenue. Prices of beer have shot up by almost 100% after the supply chain was disrupted by a sudden change of importers. The island’s tourism minister resigned recently citing poor work conditions. However, some have linked his resignation to issues with alcohol supplies… Last year, Zanzibar was ranked among the 10 best travel destinations in Africa by several tour magazines. But hoteliers now warn that the problems over alcohol supply might make the island lose its tourism shine… Mr Mshenga’s business selling beer and seafood has been badly hit. “We are running short of beer at my bar, and I just have a stock of soft drinks,” he told the BBC. “The government has to take action. It is the high season now, it’s very hot and these tourists need joy, they need cold beer on these beaches.” … The local manufacture of alcohol is banned in Zanzibar, whose population is largely Muslim. Most of the alcohol sold on the islands comes from mainland Tanzania, while some is imported from South Africa. The initial shortage early this year began when the Zanzibar Liquor Control Board (ZLCB) delayed renewed permits for the three established importers – One Stop, Scotch Store, and ZMMI… (5 February 2024)

Eight children and an adult die in Zanzibar after eating sea turtle meat
(Guardian online – UK) Extract: Eight children and an adult have died after eating sea turtle meat on Pemba Island in the Zanzibar archipelago, and 78 other people have been taken to hospital, authorities said … Sea turtle meat is considered a delicacy in Zanzibar but it periodically results in deaths from chelonitoxism, a type of food poisoning. The adult who died … was the mother of one of the children who succumbed earlier, said the Mkoani district medical officer, Dr Jaji Bakari… [He] told the Associated Press that laboratory tests had confirmed all the victims had eaten sea turtle meat. Authorities in Zanzibar, which is a semi-autonomous region of the east African nation of Tanzania, sent a disaster management team that urged people to avoid consuming sea turtles. In November 2021, seven people, including a three-year­old, died on Pemba after eating turtle meat and three others were hospitalised [see TA131]. (9 March 2024)

Brits flock to African city rivalling party capital Magaluf with £1 beer, beautiful beaches and 30°C sun all year
(Mail online – UK) Extract: … According to recent statistics by Luxury tour operator Scott Dunn, ‘up-and-coming’ Zanzibar has experienced an astonishing 83% surge in bookings among its clientele. Its sharp rise in tourism comes as popular European holiday destinations, such as Lanzarote and Amsterdam, crack down on rowdy behaviour and are asking boozy Brits to ‘stay away.’ However, there is a particular part of the island that isn’t the reserve of the well off and where British tourists are flocking in record numbers: the main town of Zanzibar City. One of the key attractions drawing British tourists to Zanzibar City is its unbeatable drink deals. Not only can you get pints from as little as £1.06, according to PintPrice, but Hikers Bay says you can get a meal in an affordable restaurant in the city from as little as £3.84. There are also affordable prices on accommodation options, with one budget double room for two adults, found by Daily Star on booking.com, amounting to just £13 per night – that’s a cool £6.50 per person. There are many bars, clubs and restaurants where Brits have been partying the night away, as well as exploring historical sites such as Stone Town – the birthplace of Queen frontman Freddie Mercury… With flights on Skyscanner available for as little as £378 for a round trip, Zanzibar is poised to remain a top choice for travellers seeking an affordable yet unforgettable holiday for years to come… (17 March 2024)

Three Tanzanian soldiers are killed as violence persists in eastern Congo
(Washington Post online – USA) Extract: Three Tanzanian soldiers were killed and three others injured after a mortar shell landed near their camp in eastern Congo, where Tanzanians are deployed under the banner of a regional bloc to help quell violence. It remained unclear who was responsible for the attack … reported … by the regional bloc, the Southern African Development Community, or SADC. SADC also said in a statement that a South African soldier had died while being treated for undisclosed “health challenges.” It sent condolences to the Tanzanian families of the victims. The bloc’s peacekeeping mission was launched … as a longstanding group of U.N. peacekeepers known as MONUSCO gradually pulls out of Congo. Eastern Congo is rich in minerals, with various armed groups battling for control of resources. The most prominent of them is the M23, which has caused the displacement of hundreds of thousands of people in North Kivu province in recent years. The M23 was most recently threatening to take Goma, the largest city in the region… (9 April 2024)

Julius Nyerere: Former Tanzanian leader honoured by African Union statue

(BBC News online – UK) Tanzania’s founding father Julius Nyerere has been honoured with a statue outside the African Union headquarters in Ethiopia’s capital, Addis Ababa. Extract continues: Nyerere led what is now Tanzania from independence in 1961 until 1985. Known as Mwalimu, Swahili for teacher, he was a committed pan-Africanist and hosted independence fighters opposed to white minority rule in southern Africa. He played a key role in the creation of the Organisation of African Unity, which later became the African Union. Unveiling the statue at a ceremony attended by numerous African heads of state, AU Commission leader Moussa Faki Mahamat said: “The legacy of this remarkable leader encapsulates the essence of Pan Africanism, profound wisdom, and service to Africa.” He recalled Nyerere’s own comments at the inaugural OAU summit in 1963. “Our continent is one, and we are all Africans.” … Paying tribute to Nyerere, Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu Hassan said: “To him, Africa’s wellbeing came first, before popular approval, personal fortune or country wellbeing.” … In a post on X, Zambia’s President Hakainde Hichilema described the unveiling of the statue to “one of our continent’s iconic figures” as a “proud day”… Nyerere is the third leader to be honoured with a statue outside the AU headquarters, after Ghana’s founding father and pan-Africanist Kwame Nkrumah, and Ethiopia’s emperor Haile Selassie, who became a symbol of African nationalism for resisting Italy’s attempts to colonise the country in the 1930s, and later agreed to host the OAU. (18 February 2024)

How a $33,000-a-night private island inspired by the Kennedys became a beacon for sustainable tourism
(CNN online – USA) Extract: … A luxury estate which must be rented in its entirety, where prices start at $33,000 per night, you’ll have to share this tropical hideaway with some of Mother Nature’s most majestic creatures, including the largest fish in the sea, the whale shark. Located a 30-minute helicopter ride from Tanzania’s biggest city, Dar es Salaam, Thanda sits amid a private marine reserve with a rigorous conservation and restoration program – one that is already reaping rewards for visitors as well as the surrounding island communities. The brainchild of Swedish entrepreneurs Dan and Christin Olofsson, Thanda Island Hotel has been in operation since 2016. “They want to create the ultimate escape,” says general manager Antigone Meda, who explains that multigenerational families and groups of friends are the island’s typical guests, with most staying for five to eight nights. The island features a villa and two open-air beach chalets. “The villa was very inspired by the Kennedys’ beach home,” Meda says, referring to the compound in Cape Cod that belonged to the family of JFK. “It breeds beach romance, nostalgia, (with) a touch of East African flare.” Thanda strives to be as self-sufficient as possible, she adds, with a seawater desalination plant on site, rainwater harvesting, and powered by the largest off-grid solar farm in Tanzania, she claims. Organic waste is turned into compost. But the hotel’s sustainability credentials are only part of the allure for the environmentally conscious traveller… The benefits to tourism have been married to a number of projects engaging with the Mafia Island community. The majority of employees at Thanda Island come from the neighbouring island, and Thanda supports a series of entrepreneurs and small businesses there, says Meda. [Thanda’s dive master, Hassan] Jumbe says other people from Mafia have been trained in open water diving and coral restoration… “(A) holistic approach to sustainable tourism is really finding its foot(ing) on the continent, because so much of tourism on the continent is in connection with the environment. And so you’re seeing sustainability really on the cutting edge in some places,” [Meda] explains. (21 March 2024)

Suffolk supports Tanzanian farmers combating climate change
(BBC News online – UK) Churches in Suffolk are raising money to help farmers in Tanzania combat the effects of climate change. Extract continues: The Bishops’ Lent Appeal at the Diocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich is paying for training and equipment in Kagera. The Church and Community Mobilisation Process (CCMP) in Tanzania also provides seeds for drought resistant crop varieties. “We see climate change with our own eyes,” said CCMP leader Thomas Shavu. “There is a lot of evidence; streams are disappearing; potato, cassava and bananas, they are getting blight. “Farmers are struggling to know when to plant their crops.” The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) – a Unite Nations body – has said it is “indisputable” that human activities are causing climate change. Mr Shavu said: “In years back, they would know ‘this is the planting seasons, this is the weeding season’, but nowadays no-one knows. The rain may come early, but then stop, if you plant, then plants would dry. Or you plant late and the rain continues. Sometimes it’s very heavy and causes flooding, or comes with winds and destroys crops.” The Church of England in Suffolk has had a partnership with the diocese in Kagera since 1994, with regular exchange visits. Last year’s appeal raised £25,000, and the diocese said it reached more than 50 villages, teaching new farming methods, supplying seeds and saplings, and training people to build rainwater tanks. It also paid for training for a local doctor in ophthalmology, provided bursaries for students in theology and bought motorbikes to help priests get around their parishes… (20 March 2024)

Globe-trotting billionaire
Mo Dewji made a fortune in East Africa selling palm oil, rope, and soda. Now he claims to have the recipe for transforming Tanzania into an agribusiness powerhouse. (Forbes online – USA) Extract: Puffing on a nicotine vape and seated on a white leather chair in his $50 million home in Dubai, Mohammed “Mo” Dewji is waxing poetic about his plans to mechanize farming 2,500 miles away. “I want to make Africa, long term, a food basket for the world,” says the 48-year-old billionaire, who was born, raised and until recently lived in Tanzania. A framed photograph of a street in Zanzibar, the Tanzanian archipelago famous for lush white beaches, hangs on a wall behind him. “Why the hell are we not investing in agri?” Dewji is well known in Tanzania, Africa’s fifth largest country with a population of 70 million. The football team owner and former politician controls a range of businesses through his consumer goods conglomerate MeTL Group, including textile manufacturing, edible oil refineries and his Mo Cola carbonated beverages line (name after himself). MeTL already grows crops like tea, avocados, and sisal (a natural fiber used in rope), which are vertically integrated into his other businesses. Now Dewji wants to grow his agribusiness empire – by order of magnitude. He is seeking to invest $250 million, including $100 million of his own capital, to buy and mechanize 100,000 hectares of farmland in Tanzania. MeTL would use the crops to feed its own businesses, then sell the surpluses to other Tanzanian firms, African countries and even European customers. Dewji says this “vision” came to him in the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine as soaring food and fertilizer prices worsened conditions of poverty and malnutrition in Africa. Agriculture accounts for one-third of Tanzania’s annual GDP (of $75 billion), but roughly 90% of that farming is done by subsistence farmers tilling less than 5 hectares of land each. As a result, food insecurity in Tanzania is widespread: Over 30% of children are stunted, and 13 million Tanzanians live in extreme poverty, while “many other live just above the poverty line,” according to the U.S. Agency for International Development… Bigger, more efficient farms could help solve Tanzania’s hunger problem. In developing countries, “Larger farms tend to be more efficient that their smaller counterparts,” a recent European Commission paper found. Within Africa, increasing agricultural productivity was “a substantial driver of growth and poverty reduction” in Ethiopia, Ghana, Malawi, Rwanda and Uganda— in contrast to Tanzania and those countries where farming growth lagged, according to a UN study. But agribusiness also comes with costs: human displacement, environmental degradation, disruption of local trading networks upending entire communities. Dewji says the benefits outweigh the cons… He wants to prove his agribusiness model works in Tanzania, then raise money from global investors to replicate it in other African countries… (14 March 2024)

America’s Got Talent: Fantasy League won by Tanzania’s Ramadhani Brothers
(BBC News online – UK) Extract: … Fadhili Ramadhani, 36, and Ibrahim Jobu, 26, beat nine other finalists, taking home the inaugural trophy and $250,000 (£198,000) in prize money. The pair are known for their daring head-balancing performances. Their mentor, judge Howie Mandel, said their routine was “probably one of the most terrifying acts in [AGT] history”… [I]n the show which is a spin-off of America’s Got Talent, featuring winners, finalists and fan favourites from previous seasons… Jobu told People Magazine that they would use the prize money to buy more equipment and upgrade their training centre back home in Tanzania. “We also want to help other acrobats from our community improve their lives. We’d also like to buy land and build our own homes.” The pair are first to headline a show on the iconic Las Vegas Strip in the US. The two acrobats amazed the AGT: Fantasy League judges with acts that involved one [of] them balancing the other’s body weight on his head while navigating different sets… (20 February 2024)