By JAMES ANYANZWA

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Tanzania has rebased its economy to include the informal sector as a way of expanding coverage of economic activity and boosting the country’s financial status, which has heavily relied on agriculture.

Data from the National Bureau of Statistics shows the performance of key economic sectors such as agriculture, industry and construction has remained relatively flat, with the services sector now becoming the main contributor to the country’s GDP.

This is the sixth time that Tanzania is rebasing its economy, the initial rebasing having been done in 1966.

Rebasing the national account, which includes the GDP, is the process of replacing an old base year with a new and more recent base year, with the aim of presenting the most accurate state of the economy as possible. According to the United Nations Statistical Commission, countries should rebase their economies after every five years.

In 2014, Kenya rebased its economy, which increased its size by 25 per cent and propelled the country to lower middle-income status. In the same period, Nigeria rebased its economy and overtook South Africa to become the continent’s biggest economy.

Zambia is also set to rebase its economy this year.