ERIC TOROKA

WITH the East African Community having launched a common market in July this year, the  lack of harmony in standards of industrial goods remains a barrier for streamlining business regulations.

The business community sees this situation as a major challenge in the way to the full realisation of the free movement of goods in the region, on the basis of proceedings of a recent workshop examining the issue.

Esther Mkwizu, the vice chairperson for the East African Business Council (EABC) and chairperson of the Tanzania Private Sector Foundation (TPSF) made these observations at an EABC – EAC regional sensitization and consultative workshop in Dar es Salaam recently.

WHILE mobile telephone companies lament vastly lower calling rates that have pushed them to a revenue crisis affecting most operators in the sub-sector, a spate of promotions is attracting the media and big guns in the supervision and surveillance quarter to smell a rat.

That is how one can understand the move by Gaming Board of Tanzania (GBT) chairman Abbas Tarimba's announcement that a team of experts is being formed to examine whether the promotions constitute an infringement into the lottery business, where the mobile phone companies have no licence to conduct operations.

According to GBT chairman, the board  will wait until its experts zero on the pros and cons and then advice what course of action needs to be taken.

On one side this may superficially appear to be open minded and non-committal, but on the other end it could constitute a prima facie testimony that there is something to worry about, which could be negative for the sub-sector.