Dr. Tausi Mbaga Kida is the Executive Director of the Economic and Social Research Foundation (ESRF), a Policy Think Tank based in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. Dr. Kida is a development economist with over twenty (20) years of experience in policy research and development management in Tanzania. She is currently (since May 2015) the Executive Director of the Economic and Social Research Foundation (ESRF) – one of the leading policy research think tanks in Tanzania. Prior to assuming this position, Dr. Kida has been the Director of Programmes (2011 – 2015) in the same organization. She holds a PhD in Development Economics from Erasmus University Rotterdam: International Institute of Social Studies, the Netherlands. She also holds a MA and BA Degrees in Economics from University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

Throughout her progressive career history, Dr. Kida has been at the fore front in spearheading policy development process in Tanzania and East Africa. At the start of her carrier in mid-1990’s, Dr. Kida had been involved in policy research activities geared towards supporting Tanzania’s economic reform processes of liberalization and transition from central command to private sector led economy. Dr. Kida’s area of work during 2000’s was mostly around policy research to inform country’s poverty reduction agenda. Some of her other notable engagements in the past include participation in the preparation of Tanzania Development Vision 2025 in early 2000, and its review in 2010. She has been a team member in steering committees in the formulation of Tanzania’s Five Years Development Plans (FYDP) namely FYDP I (2011/12 – 2015/16) and FYDP II (2016/17 – 2021/22). Dr. Kida was also the team leader for National Consultations Process during formulation of Post 2015 Development Agenda in Tanzania.

Some of her key engagements at the moment include active involvement in the process of developing Regional Investment Guides in Tanzania – an important development process implemented by ESRF her leadership. Dr. Kida is also leading research and capacity development projects on urbanization in Tanzania under the auspices of Tanzania Urbanization Laboratory hosted at ESRF since July 2017. Under the auspices of Rapid Response Implementation Support (RARIS) project, Dr. Kida is currently taking an active role in supporting the Ministry of Agriculture in the implementation of Tanzania’s II Agricultural Sector Development Programme (2015/16 – 2024/25).