SECTOR 2

Scores:
Individual scores:
1

Country does not meet indicator

2

Country meets only a few aspects of indicator

3

Country meets some aspects of indicator

4

Country meets most aspects of indicator

5

Country meets all aspects of the indicator

Average score:
Score of previous years:

✓✓

✓✓

✓
✓✓✓

✓✓

✓✓

2.8
2006: n/a; 2008: n/a; 2010: n/a; 2012: n/a; 2015: 3.8

2.5 Adequate legislation/regulation seeks to promote
competition and prevent media concentration and
monopolies
The Fair Competition Act (2003) is supposed to prevent concentrations and
monopolies across multiple sectors, including the media. However, in practise,
media concentration is strong in Tanzania. A 2018 study19 by the MCT and
Reporters Without Borders showed that the Tanzanian media was controlled by
a handful of interests.
It noted that:
Some of the largest media groups belong to owners who control
conglomerates with a range of interests in other business sectors. For
example, the late Dr. Reginald Mengi, who founded the IPP Media
Group, built his fortune in the bottling industry, in household and
cosmetic products and in mining. He also had interests in the oil and
gas, automobile and pharmaceutical industries. Another case is that
of Said Salim Bakhresa, a self-made millionaire who launched Azam
TV, a pay TV service for East Africa. His Bakhresa Group is today one
of East Africa’s largest conglomerates, including ventures in food and
beverages, packaging, ferry services and petroleum trading. There is
a risk that media owners with diverse business interests may use their
communication channels with the objective of promoting and facilitating
their other companies – at the expense of socially relevant content.
Panellists asserted that part of the problem is the failure of the Media Services
Act to address media concentration. Media lobbies have failed over the year
to cause the authorities to change the law that allows single interests to own
multiple types of news media. Consequently, the media industry is controlled by
less than five individuals and corporate interests.

Scores:
Individual scores:

29

AFRICAN MEDIA BAROMETER TANZANIA 2019

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