On May 12, 2021 in Dar es Salaam, the largest city in the United Republic of Tanzania, on behalf of their respective countries PRC Ambassador to Tanzania Wang Ke and Permanent Secretary of Tanzanian Ministry of Finance and Planning Emmanuel Tutuba signed an agreement on economic and technical cooperation.
From the very beginning, since bilateral relations were established in 1964 when the Republic of Tanganyika and the People’s Republic of Zanzibar and Pemba united into a single state after gaining independence from Great Britain, China has provided economic assistance to Tanzania within the framework of various international programs.
The Celestial Empire leveraged its financial and technical resources to construct the Tanzania-Zambia Railway (also known as the Tanzam Railway), which was built in 1976. The Chinese authorities sent a total of about 56,000 workers to build this infrastructure facility, one which is very significant for the country, and continued to provide Tanzania with various assistance operating the railway over the following decades.
China treated construction work on the railway in Tanzania as a long-term investment. Owing to the improved infrastructure in the country, Tanzania’s economy subsequently began to grow much more quickly, and today it is one of the leading economies present on the African continent. In addition, for many years the Tanzam Railway served as the only route for transporting copper ore from Zambia – where it originates and which is one of the world’s largest copper producers – to the port of Dar es Salaam for further sales and distribution.
Tanzania has purchased, and continues to purchase, weapons and equipment from China for its army for a long time now. On April 26, 2014, Dar es Salaam hosted a grand military parade in honor of the 50th anniversary of the unification of Tanganyika and Zanzibar, although these kinds of parades are held on a regular basis. At these events, various models of Chinese-produced military equipment are showcased that have been procured by the Tanzanian Armed Forces in the framework of military cooperation with the PRC. A100 multiple launch rocket systems, 07RA self-propelled mortar systems, and WZ551 armored personnel vehicles traveled across the country’s main square while F-7TN fighter jets flew over the city. At the very least, is worth recalling the parade held in 2014, because on that day Tanzania showed the entire international community an impressive amount of Chinese military equipment put into service by its army. Previously, the Tanzanian authorities did not publicize that they had been purchasing armaments from China so overtly. In 2021, Tanzania became the first country to put the Chinese Type 63A amphibious light tank into service.
In addition to extensive military cooperation, very close economic contacts have been forged between the two countries. Tanzania, like the absolute majority of African countries, has signed documents detailing their cooperation with China on implementing the transportation and economic initiative dubbed the One Belt, One Road Initiative. This means that the country is willing to ratchet up its cooperation with the PRC with each passing year.
The Celestial Empire ranks among Tanzania’s main partners in terms of export trade. In recent years, this African country has delivered about 8% of its export goods to China. Also, the PRC is Tanzania’s largest partner for imports: products from China account for about 16% of the total volume of goods imported into Tanzania. This speaks to the substantial role that China plays in the country’s economy. If it were not for the cooperation with China taking place on favorable terms, then Tanzania’s GDP would not have grown at such a rapid pace.
Despite the global economic crisis that occurred due to the coronavirus pandemic that broke out at the end of 2019, Tanzania’s economy grew by about 2.5% over 2020. This impressive, positive result is not only an indicator of the high performance of the work done by Tanzanian leadership, but also stems from the warm relations it enjoys with the Celestial Empire.
In January 2021 in the Tanzanian city of Chato, negotiations were held between a Chinese delegation and representatives from the Tanzanian leadership on multilateral strategic cooperation between the two countries, including military cooperation. The Chinese side was represented by Foreign Minister and member of the State Council of the People’s Republic of China, Wang Yi. Tanzania, for its part, was represented by President John Magufuli and Palamagamba John Aidan Mwaluko Kabudi, the head of the country’s diplomatic service.
The two countries agreed to continue reinforcing their bilateral contacts across all levels, and to enhance the mutual exchange of their experience gained with public administration issues. The parties decided to bolster their cooperation, jointly develop the One Belt, One Road Initiative, foster increased investment from Chinese companies in the Tanzanian economy, and promote Tanzanian imports to China. China attaches a great deal of importance to constructing a new railway in Tanzania – one which will significantly improve the quality of the country’s infrastructure. The Chinese authorities intend to further support Tanzania in implementing large-scale investment projects, picking up the pace of the country’s industrialization, and bolstering its potential to independently develop.
On April 21, 2021, Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan met with representatives from the Chinese Chamber of Commerce to discuss issues related to trade and investment. PRC representatives assured the Tanzanian leader that they are interested in the country’s economic growth and increasing the population’s welfare via far-reaching investments, and about 800 Chinese companies are ready to invest in Tanzanian manufacturing, telecommunications, pharmaceuticals, and the automotive industry.
To recap, it is a fair conclusion that China and Tanzania are linked by a long-standing friendship, which can now be safely be termed a historical one. China has made a palpable contribution to helping Tanzania develop and establish itself as a self-sufficient state. Thanks to productive cooperation across almost all key areas, Tanzania continues to improve and develop with every passing year, gradually and incrementally bringing the level of its prosperity closer to that in advanced countries.
Petr Konovalov, a political observer, exclusively for the online magazine “New Eastern Outlook”.
