Mbeya Region Website

Mbozi District lies between latitude 80 and 90 12’ S of the Equator and Longitudes  320 7’ 30” and 330 2’ 0” East of the Greenwich Meridian in south western part of Mbeya Region.  It shares borders with Mbeya District to the Eastern part, Ileje District to the South, Rukwa Region and Zambia to the Western part and Chunya District to the North.

The District occupies a total area of 9679km2 (967900 ha) generally classified as:

Administrative Sub-divisions:

Administratively, Mbozi District Council has Six Divisions, Twenty Six (26) Wards and hundred and 175 villages.

Mbozi District lies between 900 – 2750 meters above the sea level.  On average it receives rainfall between 1350 mm and 1550 mm per annum; while temperature ranges between 200C to 280C.The high plateau is located in the Eastern part of the District which occupies 36% of the District area.  Its altitude rises from 1400 – 2750 meters above the sea level, characterized by several hills with rivers and valuable valleys for irrigation.

 

The rift valley stretches is in the western part of the District, forms 64% of the District area.  It is relatively hot with temperature ranging between 25 0C – 28 0C.  Potential rivers cut across some parts of the zonal areas.  These are associated with valley favourable for paddy, beans, vegetables, fruits and corn. The vegetation cover is mainly acacia species.

According to the 2002 population census, Mbozi District had a population of 513,600 people. Out of those, 243948 were males and 269652 were females, with a growth rate of 3.1%. If the growth remains the same as 2002, this year’s population set at 635967.  The population growth for the periods of 1978 to 1988 and 1988 to 2002 experienced the decrease, from 3.4% to 3.1% respectively.  The overall sex ratio is 90/100 males to females.  

Commercial banks like; National Microfinance Bank Limited (NMB)   National Bank of Commerce Limited (NBC) and CRDB offer financial services within the district.  Also there are a number of NGOs which provide micro finance services to a community, these include SELFINA and PRIDE. 

 

Small Industries Development Organization (SIDO) offers micro loans to entrepreneurs with the aim of improving rural technology. All of the above do business in different levels of competitions.

Tanzania Revenue Authority (TRA) has office at Tunduma and Vwawa to facilitate smooth management of legal taxes business. Being a border of Tanzania and Zambia, Tunduma has Bureau Ex-change to serve travellers of Southern Africa countries, DRC, Rwanda and Burundi.  

There is only one business association that operates within the Mbozi District, Tanzania Chamber of Commerce Industry and Agriculture (TCCIA). Its mission is to strengthen the private sector in Tanzania by promoting and assisting business society of Tanzania in their effort to succeed. The TCCIA seeks to provide effective business representation and ideal business climate in the country. It also aims at providing its members with quality services which include business information, business promotional events and counselling services. 

Small and Medium Enterprises Development (SME’s)

SME’s play a fundamental role in utilizing and adding value to local resources, it facilitate distribution of economic activities within an economy and hence foster equitable income distribution. It provides training ground for entrepreneurs and enables motivated individuals to seek new ventures for investment and expand their operations. 

More than 20 percent of the population in the district engages in SME’s activities to earn their livelihood. These Small and Medium Enterprises work as the portals of supply. They tend to move value of goods from one dealer to another.

 

Private companies complete the chain of special value and distribution of goods and services from one market to another. The system is simple and easy because of the presence of economic and social infrastructures.