Another example of an unnecessarily capital-intensive project is
that of a ‘semi-automatic’ bakery to be built with the help of a
Canadian loan. The machinery would be bought from Canada. As
one commentator pointed out, ‘the project would have the effect
of replacing 200 unskilled workers by a handful of skilled workers
and some expatriates’,33

The important question of technique and the type of technology
is often left to the foreign partner. Thus in the case of the fertiliser
plant where Kloeckner was to supply the machinery the choice
was left to the foreign partner: ‘Kloeckner will select the most
modern processes corresponding with the latest technical develop-
ment in the chemical industry taking into consideration the ob-
jective conditions prevailing in Tanzania!®*

In some cases the technology imported is simply not suitable to
local conditions. Thus, in the case of a cashewnut factory, Tanita
Co. Ltd., the foreign partner — an Italian firm called Oltremare —
supplied the machinery for which the Tanzanian Government
provided the loan. The report in Jenga makes the following ob-
servation: ‘. . . the machinery for cashew processing at Tanita is
what may be called ‘first generation’ machinery and it has taken
the company time to adjust it in order to match it to the peculiar
characteristics and shapes of the cashewnuts’.®® (Emphasis mine.)

The other important aspect is the type of training that is im-
parted to local manpower. Firstly, since there is a bias for capital-
intensive technique; whatever techniques are imparted, affect only
a small group of workers. Secondly, as we have already observed,
the expatriate staff are extremely reluctant to pass on technical
know-how. Thirdly, given the fact that much foreign investment
tends to be in light consumer goods as opposed to say, iron-steel
or machine goods industry, the technological knowledge or
training that is imparted is not of the type which can create a large
technically-minded and mechanically skilled workforce. The latter
is absolutely necessary for rapid industrialisation. Fourthly, how
useful and basic is the technological know-how imparted in such
manufacturing industries as assembly and packaging plants: radio-
assembling; motor-vehicle assembly; assembling electrical bulbs?

Finally, in the field of administrative training such as
managerial, accountants, administrators etc., the training by the
foreign partner is bound to leave behind the ethos of capitalism. In
a country like Tanzania, which has declared to build socialism,

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