Economic Development (Hansard, 21 February 1958)

§ Mr. Profumo

Remarkable progress has been made in a number of fields in the economic development of Tanganyika over the past ten years. But the country, which remains predominantly agricultural, is unevenly developed and considerable additional capital investment is required for further expansion.

The most substantial progress has naturally been made in the production, marketing and distribution of agricultural commodities. European production has expanded considerably and made a vital contribution to the national income and the territorial revenues. Subsistence farming continues to account for the major part of African agricultural activity, but in a number of areas there has been encouraging progress in the production of cash crops. The cooperative movement has played a very important part in this aspect of development, the value of the produce handled having increased nearly tenfold and now amounting to about 20 per cent. of Tanganyika's exports. A satisfactory feature has been the much greater diversification of agricultural production, in which sisal formerly played an unduly predominant part.

The growth in exports of primary produce is indicated by the following comparative figures for 1947 and 1956. Sisal increased in volume by 76 per cent. and in value from £5,470,000 to £10,820,000; cotton by 232 per cent. and from £780,000 to £7,480,000; and coffee by 31 per cent. and from £980,000 to £9,220,000; tea, caster seed, cashew nuts and ground nuts together in value from £260,000 to £3,160,000. Sugar production, mostly for internal consumption, has risen from 7,500 tons to 18,000 tons.

Development has by no means been confined to agriculture, however. Mineral production, for example, has increased significantly. By far the most important factor in the past ten years has been the development of diamond mining. The 180W total value of diamonds sold rose from £631,650 in 1947 to £2,855,000 in 1956. In the same period the total value of gold sold rose from £408,440 to £742,000, and of lead from nothing to £1,211,000. In addition, large-scale mineral prospecting and exploration has taken place, particularly by means of aerial surveys.

The country's communications system has expanded considerably. In the period 1947–56, road mileage increased from 16,500 to 19,180 miles, and some 280 miles of new railway were built. The number of railway locomotives increased from 67 to 119, coach units from 230 to 454 and goods units from 1,360 to 3,207. Port facilities have been developed on a large scale, particularly at Dar es Salaam and Mtwara, where altogether five new deepwater berths have been built. Lighterage facilities have been improved by the construction of new wharves, and transit shed accommodation has been substantially increased. The net registered tonnage of shipping using Tanganyika ports rose from 2,020,000 in 1947 to 5,179,000 in 1956. In the same period cargo tonnage handled at the four major ports rose from 655,800 to 1,473,000 tons—including export tonnage handled from 410.000 to 694,000.

The expansion in trade and commercial activity has been substantial. The total value of external and inter-territorial trade rose from £25 million in 1947 to £90,500,000 in 1956. In the same period the number of companies registered increased from 612 to 1,544, the number of business names registered from 2,199 to 5,356, and commercial bank deposits from £9,900,000 to £22,200,000.

All these developments have had the active support of the Tanganyika Government, whose annual recurrent revenue during the period has risen between 1947 and 1956 from £5,600,000 to £17,500,000. Substantial sums have been spent by Government for the development of natural resources and communications on which, for example, expenditure—excluding railways—in the ten years ending June, 1957, totalled £17,250,000.