Governor, Central Bank Benno Ndulu of Tanzania

Whereas Treasury permanent secretary Gray Mgonja assured The Citizen that he had acted as a signatory to the firm's bank account on behalf of the Government, Bank of Tanzania governor Prof Benno Ndulu said he had no clue as to who where the company's real owners.

Ndulu is the author of New Directions in Development Economics: Growth Environmental Concerns and Government in the 1990s.

Bank of Tanzania governor Prof Benno Ndulu has called for close cooperation among EAC central banks to enhance efficiency and timely response to globalisation challenges.

In a speech read on his behalf by his deputy, Mr Juma Reli, at the official opening of a training seminar for EAC central bank managers, Prof Ndulu said working together would be effective in developing and monitoring the financial sector among member countries of the fast growing EAC trading bloc.

The management of the Bank of Tanzania has removed senior members of staff involved in the operation of the External Payment Accounts (EPA) during the financial year 2005/2006, pending appropriate review of their roles.

Ndulu said that while Africa had kept pace in economic terms with much of Asia in the immediate post-war period, it has since lagged spectacularly behind.

Ndulu said the percentage of the population throughout the continent who were classified as living in extreme poverty was 36% in 1970 but had reached 50% by the end of the century.

Ndulu said Africa should not be afraid of looking at unorthodox approaches to growth.

Despite the continent's economic performance over the last three decades, Ndulu said there are reasons to believe the future will be brighter.

Please be advised that the sought dispensation will be difficult to administer given the existing limitation on convertibility of East Africa currencies,” Mr Ndulu is quoted to have said in the letter.

The chief executive officer of Orbit Securities that deals with the stock exchange and investment consultancy, Mr Laurean Malauri, says Prof Ndulu is the appropriate person with an impressive �CV� to lead the central bank into another era.

I know Prof Ndulu is very capable of that.

She notes that Prof Ndulu is a very good economist with international exposure that would prove useful in his future responsibilities.