Tanzania is one of the most resource-rich countries of the world yet, it remains one of the world's poorest nations. The inability to effectively manage the vast natural resources for the nation's welfare may partly be attributed to the neglect of what in the 1960s was known as 'administration development'. As a result, there has been minimal attention paid to the role of human resource development (HRD) in creating the required human resource capital with the necessary competences (knowledge, skills and abilities) for effective public policy management. In an effort to address the competence shortages in the areas of gas and oil, for example, and enhance the capacity of the administrative machinery, the government of Tanzania has recently started awarding scholarships to Tanzanians specialising in the fields of natural gas and oil to pursue studies at bachelor and master's degree levels locally and abroad. This a