A man of the people? Tanzania's President Kikwete has now been in power for two years, during which his country has continued to show robust growth. What has been his personal impact on the nation? Analysis by Neil Ford

African Business, Feb, 2008 by Neil Ford

Kikwete has attracted a great deal of praise from the international community but his greatest success is that of being in the right place at the right time.

He was fortunate to come to power at a time when economic growth was finally taking off and his five or 10 years in power may come to be regarded as a time of unprecedented economic success for the country.

In speeches over the past year, Kikwete has talked of the need to move away from reliance on development assistance towards a greater focus on investment. He talks of "partners in development" and seems to suggest that the European countries that provide most financial aid should encourage greater trade between their own companies and Tanzania.

One break that Kikwete has made with his predecessors is in spending a great deal of time in various rural parts of Tanzania. He tours different regions several times a year, holding meetings in remote places with local people. He says: "It is vital for me to meet the people", and even takes his holidays in Tanzania.

Continuing the policies of the past 20 years should certainly serve the president well. Radical changes in approach rarely yield long term benefits and the government is perhaps right to pursue selective reforms, while allowing the benefits of the liberalisation achieved to date to filter through.

But politicians with the right motives often fail to see the results of their work on the ground and so lose touch with the people they are trying to help. Gaining the presidency cannot but change a politician, but at least Kikwete is trying to see the impact of his policies on ordinary Tanzanians. Perhaps he has brought something new to the table after all.

RELATED ARTICLE: Angola

Green light for new $4bn LNG plant

After years of discussion, the final investment decision (FID) has finally been taken on the Angola LNG project. US firm Chevron has put pen to paper on a deal with Angolan state owned oil and gas company Sonangol to develop the project. According to the project consortium, gas will be supplied to the plant from associated gas fields, thereby helping to avoid gas flaring and enabling the production of oil on associated fields.

The development consortium comprises Chevron subsidiary Cabinda Gulf Oil Company (36.4%), Sonangol offshoot Sonagas (22.8%), BP (13.6%), Eni (13.6%) and Total (13.6%).

A single liquefied natural gas (LNG) train with production capacity of 5.2m tonnes a year will be developed on the Angolan coast close to the city of Soyo, about 350km north of Luanda. The plant, which has a projected lifespan of 30 years, will consume about 1bn cubic feet of gas a day, which will be collected from offshore gas fields on blocks 14,15,17 and 18, while the operating company will also supply up to 125m cubic feet of gas a day to Sonangol for use within Angola.

Apart from LNG, the plant will also produce propane, butane and condensate. Gas is expected to be shipped from the Soyo plant from the first quarter of 2012 to Gulf LNG's regasification terminal in Mississippi for sale across the US. George Kirkland, Chevron executive vice president, upstream and gas, said that the scheme would "establish Angola as a competitive source of LNG to the emerging global natural gas market". Alan Kleier, the managing director of Chevron's Southern Africa operations, added: "Chevron has worked and been in partnership with Angola for the past 50 years, and we appreciate the government of Angola's strong support for the project. The benefits of Angola LNG are broad: the project is expected to commercialise the country's natural gas resources, facilitate more oil development and natural gas exploration and provide natural gas for domestic use to stimulate further economic development."