Economic Advantages of Archaeology in Tanzania
Archaeology is an asset which when used can benefit a country
economically. The following are the economically potential of archaeology in
Tanzania.
Cultural tourism. Tanzania has many archaeological sites which bring
economic benefits. Examples of those sites are: Zanzibar, Bagamoyo, Mount
Kilimanjaro, Laetoli and many others. People from different countries visit
Tanzania to see our archaeological attractions. Tourists pay money as a result
a country benefit by getting foreign currency which when used propely can bring
development of a country.
In addition to cultural tourism, Tanzania and Tanzanias can benefit
through selling of casts. Casts are made by animals and hominid remains. Those
casts can bring money in exchange.
Employment. Archaeology provides job opportunity to people. Example,
many Tanzanians are employed as surveyers, researchers and teachers. All of
these people are paid money, hence economic advantage.
Archaeology influence development of other sectors. The first sector is
transport and communication. For example, in Bagamoyo there is Caravan Serai
which attracts many tourists within Tanzania and out of Tanzania, in order for
those tourists to reach those archaeological sites, roads and other infrastructures
like airports are supposed to be made to help those tourists reach the area
easily. So, archaeology has helped many historical towns to have good
infrastructures. Also, archaeology helps growth of agricultural sector through
land planning. All of these are economic benefit that Tanzania is getting.
Archaeology in some places is used for housing. For example, Mji Mkongwe
in Zanzibar is used as government offices. Through having government offices at
those archaeological sites, the government reduce the cost which would be used
to build other expensive houses at different places.
To sum up, archaeology has many economic potential in Tanzania. Although
in some extent the government is passive in investing on archaeological
researches, the importance of archaeology is benefiting the whole nation. Many
developed countries like Frances, get a lot of money because they have invested
in their archaeological attractions. Tanzanians policy makers are supposed to
promote archaeological remains for the development of nation economically.