In a fierce defense of domestic industry, Njombe Regional Commissioner Anthony Mtaka has issued a clarion call to overhaul Tanzania's procurement mindset, demanding that both public and private institutions cease their infatuation with foreign firms and explicitly prioritize capable local contractors to secure the national economic future.

Speaking during a high-profile inspection of a University of Dodoma (UDOM) expansion project, Mtaka vehemently criticized the entrenched systemic bias that elevates international conglomerates while actively suppressing Tanzanian-owned enterprises. His remarks were catalyzed by the impressive performance of Dimetoclasa Real Hope Ltd, a local firm successfully constructing six major buildings at the UDOM Njombe campus.

This aggressive push for local content matters profoundly across the entire East African Community. The region is currently undergoing an unprecedented infrastructure boom, financed heavily by external debt. If the billions of shillings poured into these projects are immediately repatriated to Beijing, Ankara, or London by foreign contractors, the foundational goal of domestic wealth creation is catastrophically undermined.

The Economic Multiplier of Local Trust

Commissioner Mtaka's thesis rests on the undeniable mathematics of capital circulation. The construction sector is a massive economic engine. When local contractors are awarded tenders, the capital remains trapped within the domestic economy. It cascades through the system, paying local engineers, sourcing materials from local hardware manufacturers, and creating thousands of jobs for the youth demographic.

Conversely, foreign firms frequently import their own management, technical staff, and even basic raw materials, effectively short-circuiting the local economic multiplier. Mtaka highlighted the ongoing Higher Education for Economic Transformation (HEET) projects, backed by the World Bank, as prime examples of where local contractors are proving their world-class capabilities.

East Africa's Construction Paradigm

The struggle to empower local contractors is not unique to Tanzania; it is a critical policy battlefield in Kenya as well. Despite legal frameworks designed to empower domestic firms, major mega-projects have been monopolized by foreign, predominantly state-backed corporations.

The hurdles facing local contractors across the region are systemic and severe:

• Capital Constraints: Domestic banks impose prohibitive interest rates and demand excessive collateral for performance guarantees, effectively locking local firms out of large-scale, capital-intensive tenders.
• The "One Bad Fish" Syndrome: As Mtaka aptly noted, the failure or corruption of a single local contractor is often weaponized to condemn the entire domestic industry, whereas foreign firms are shielded from such collective punishment.
• Capacity Building: Moving from a subcontractor or casual laborer to a prime contractor requires deliberate government mentorship, joint-venture mandates, and technology transfer protocols that are often ignored.

Mtaka urged financial institutions to fundamentally shift their risk models, demanding they provide affordable credit, mentorship, and training to local firms rather than abandoning them.

Praising Our Own

The psychological shift is perhaps the most difficult to achieve. The colonial hangover that equates foreign with superior quality must be systematically dismantled. Local contractors are entirely capable of executing complex engineering feats when adequately financed and objectively supervised.

"If one fish goes bad, the rest are still eaten. One contractor’s failure is individual, not collective. We must begin to praise our own whenever we perform well," Mtaka declared, laying down a vital economic manifesto for the region.