The Government of Tanzania through the Arusha Technical College is constructing a new factory in the Northern City which is specifically going to create employment to the tech savvy youths across the country.
The facility is being constructed at the cost of 7 million Euros, which is equivalent to 21.03 billion/-
Planned to officially open for operations in 2027, the factory which is implanted within the state-owned Arusha Technical College (ATC) is going to be a hybrid facility serving as both a training workshop as well as a fully-fledged production unit.
“The idea is to create a practical learning environment where students undergo training while working,” explained the Arusha Technical College Rector, Professor Mussa Chacha.
Prof Chacha was introducing the new factory to the Deputy Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Education, who is responsible for Education, Technical and Vocational Training, Dr. Hussein Mohammed Omar, during his recent tour of Arusha.
“We learned the concept from Finland where training institutions prepare the youth to be productive in sync with learning,” the college Rector explained.
After he inspected the facility the Education Deputy Permanent Secretary, Dr Omar lauded the Arusha Technical College for the initiative.
“I am impressed with the fact that the factory will enable the ATC students to work and earn salaries while still studying here,” he said, adding that after completing their studies the scholars will also be fully prepared to meet any job expectation.
The Arusha Technical College is currently also producing digital water compass meters that will enable users to pay for their utility bills directly from their handheld gadgets including feature phones, smartphones and tablets.
Students at the ATC have been learning to produce solar-powered motorbikes, water pumps, state-of-the art building materials, repairing power generators and load transformers as well as vehicle engineering.
“The new water meters are among the products to be manufactured from the on-campus factory,” the Arusha Technical College’s Rector explained, adding that the system through which the gadgets are to work will be linked with the City, Municipal and District water authorities, as well as the Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA).
Building a factory is usually considered to be a long process, but with the ATC project they are using the prefab modular construction materials from Austria.
Even the construction itself forms part of an important learning.
Many of the ATC students themselves are involved in the application of the new prefabrication technology.
Consultancy entities undertaking the works include the KIP International Projects GmbH of Austria, and the local Tanzanian firm, Kavuta Contractors Company (KCC).
Once completed the facility will be able to intake 50 students at a time but with rotational shifts, hundreds of youths will be able to be trained as well as work there.
The factory, set to open shop in 2027 will however not operate on its own but work in cooperation with the already existing engineering workshops at ATC.