The Future of the Company in Tanzanian Development

The company as a form of economic organisation is an essentially capitalist invention, and the privilege of limited liability which it confers is specifically designed to protect private investment and to ensure that such investment is kept at a reasonable level despite the vagaries of the capitalist environment. It is therefore topical and relevant to study the future of the company in an African context in which a more socialist approach to development is being increasingly advocated. This article attempts to examine the position in Tanzania—politically the most avant-garde of the new anglophone states of Africa—several months after government action which severely down-graded the significance of her private sector. 1