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| Dr Antipas Massawe |
Deposits of minerals like oil and natural gas are a valuable heritage of all generations in the countries owning them; non renewable once extracted; and the most important source of the readily available sources of seed capital mineral rich underdeveloped countries like Tanzania could have extracted for investing to liberate their populations from extreme levels of poverty and continuing dependence on foreign aid.
These underdeveloped countries should ensure foreign involved extraction of their non renewable mineral deposits earns them their deserved shares of revenue for investing to initiate and sustain developments in their economic growth priorities of relevance to majorities in their generations.
Governments in the countries should collect all the taxes they deserve in
respect of all profits players other than the government realize in the course of their sale of mineral rights; provision of services and supplies to the appraisal, development and extraction of mineral deposits in the countries; and sale of realized mineral products.
To safeguard the interests of generations, collected taxes should be invested in a manner which enables majorities in generations to generate profits out of them for own consumption and re-investing to boost-up re-invested capital and the resultant profits for the benefit all in present and future generations.
The ongoing talk of oil and/or natural gas revenues for establishment of special funds for future generation is not appropriate for any of the mineral rich underdeveloped countries like Tanzania.
Joblessness and deterioration of income among the majority rural populations in the underdeveloped countries keeps on worsening as exploitation of the huge economic growth potentials they are gifted in raw materials production, processing and manufacturing (especially in agriculture, animal husbandry, bee-keeping, fisheries, forestry and hard-rock mining) is yet to achieve desired levels of progress due to lack of credit access.
Priorities for these countries are to invest all the revenues generated from exploitation of their non renewable mineral resources like oil and natural gas in the development of their present economic growth priorities for profits, part of which present generations could consume and the balances re-invested in modernizations and expansions to boost-up productivities and generated revenues.
The total value of skills, economic infrastructures and revenues present generations would pass-over to future generations from such re-occurring processes of revenue re-investing in the economic growth priorities of present generations is many times higher than the value of the revenue special fund for future generations would pass-over to the same.
In a society where the majority is unable to realize individual potentials and most economic growth priorities still untouched due to lack of credit access, heritage of capital under reproduction for modernization, growth and boost-up of profits is more important than heritage of frozen capital.
Holding some of the revenues generated from oil and/or natural gas exploitation in special funds for future generations rather than investing them in the jobless poor populations through the unexploited economic growth priorities of present generations is counterproductive as it denies society benefits in the form of modern economic infrastructures, revenue build-up and business skills time could generated from investing the same in the priorities of present generations.
Countries like Norway decided to establish special funds for future generations because their exploitation of oil and/or natural gas resources generates more revenue than their highly developed present generations required for investing to realize unexploited growth potentials of their times.
So, the countries like Norway decided the balance of revenue should establish a special fund for future generations and investing in high value investment opportunities which would evolve anywhere in the world like in the appraisal, development and exploitation of oil and/or natural gas prospects worldwide they are on.
Underdeveloped countries like Tanzania ought to invest all revenues they generate from exploitation of their non renewable mineral resources like oil and natural gas in their majority jobless poor population through agriculture, animal husbandry, bee-keeping, fisheries, forestry and hard-rock mining because the costly investment priorities of present generations wouldn’t spare a balance of the available revenues for depositing in the special fund for future generations now or in the nearest future.
All revenues generated from exploitation of mineral resources like oil and natural gas in mineral rich underdeveloped countries like Tanzania should be deposited in special funds for the establishment of community banks.
Community banks would provide credits for the majority poorest rural populations of all generations to enable them initiate, modernize and expand their economic activities in agriculture, animal husbandry, bee-keeping, fisheries, forestry and hard-rock mining and mitigate escalation of joblessness and deteriorating incomes.
Established community banks would stimulate professionals, experienced players and investors from all over the world to join in and enable evolution of modern-highly productive and cost-effective production systems in the agriculture, animal husbandry, bee-keeping, fisheries, forestry and hard-rock mining priorities of the mineral rich underdeveloped countries like Tanzania.
Moreover, such systems would constitute main source of employment for the majority rural populations and graduating youths in all fields of specialty, main cores of industrial revolution and mitigation of populations migration from rural areas (with plenty of highly productive opportunities to offer) to urban centers (with very minimal of such to offer).
Maximization of revenue collection from foreign involved exploitation of mineral resources like oil and natural gas in mineral rich underdeveloped countries like Tanzania and investing it all in community banks is therefore the most important with regard need to invest the natural capital inherent in non renewable mineral resources like oil and natural gas in the economic growth activities most relevant and of benefit to majorities in all generations.
For mineral rich underdeveloped countries like Tanzania, depositing some of the revenues generated from oil and/or natural gas in special funds for future generations is counterproductive as it denies present generations the opportunity to realize potentials through the development and modernization of economic infrastructures, development of skills and reproduction of capital the investing in present generation offers.
Those who talk fund freezing for future generations simply forgotten that it is human activities and time rather than cash determine progress in society; human endeavors are creating, developing and producing mostly to pass over as foundations for future generations to capitalize on and advance, and that the earlier monies available are invested on humans the earlier society they belong in achieves fought for levels of progress.