Tanzania is somewhat isolated in the East African Community and somewhat ambivalent toward it, academics and historians say, but most agree it’s in Tanzania’s interest to
see the community develop.
It will be good for business in Tanzania, where “there are few people with exposure or experience in serious, private business activities, and many of those who currently populate the small business sector are ‘survivalists’ rather than serious entrepreneurs,” says Historian Peter Samwell, a doctoral student at the University of Dar es
Salaam.
On their road to freedom from colonial rule high, expectations had accumulated among African people in the 1950s and ’60s.
Tanzania’s first political party, the Tanganyika African National Union, provided an example for other states across East Africa to take decisive steps toward achieving the status of independent nation state.
It was Tanganyika that first proclaimed independence in December 1961, followed by Uganda in October 1962, then, Zanzibar and Kenya on the same day, Dec. 10, 1963.
Today, the United Republic of Tanzania with its 48 million people is a major player in the
region, and one of the most reliable African countries for partnering with financial institutions in the U.S., EU, China, and emerging economies.
Arusha can be considered as the capital of the East African Community
(EAC), which was first established as a regional block by Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania in 1967, then, re-launched at the end of the 1990s. As of today, the community has five members, including Rwanda and Burundi.
Local people and many international scholars agree that it is in the interest of Tanzania to
see the EAC develop.
Goran Hyden, an Africanist and professor of political science at the University of Florida, told AFKInsider: “Tanzania’s attitude to the Community is ambivalent. Tanzanian officials and many citizens are afraid that the country will be taken advantage of by Kenya, in particular, but also Rwanda, and at the same time, the country would lose if the Community breaks up.”
“Despite the current ‘isolation’ that Tanzania and Burundi are facing in the East African Community, Tanzania is still committed to keep the Community alive,” Samwell said.
The so-called “Coalition of the Willing” — Kenya, Rwanda and Uganda — signed a trilateral defense-and-security pact at the beginning of 2014 that seems to have been sidelining the two other members states.
This three-state coalition may be the sign of fragmentation over disagreements on a number of issues including the share of revenue from a desired single tourist visa, a faster process to reach political federation favored and pushed by President Museveni of Uganda, what many consider overly ambitious infrastructure projects, or the potential future membership in the EAC of South Sudan.
Tanzania is a key player in ensuring the current East African Community prospers, said Elliott Niboye, senior lecturer at the Institute of Development Studies, University of Dar es Salaam, in an AFKInsider interview. Advantages of membership for Tanzania include trading and the exchange of goods, the free movement of people, and also tackling extremism, the problem of refugees, and poaching.
People expect that the Community will promote foreign investment in Tanzania. The
majority of informal-sector operations in the country are run by Tanzanians. “These prefer to operate on their own as self employed and there is very little business growth in that sector, partly because of lack of capital or lack of access to capital, but also because of lack of trust,” Hyden said.
“Currently, the market is not yet saturated, but many of the Tanzanians are not able to
effectively utilize the opportunities available because of inexperience, the unavailability
of credit and the know-how of effective trading, vendoring and service provision,” Niboye said.
Potential for a competitive business culture is yet to be seen. Education could play a significant role in providing skills, especially for young people, Hyden said, but “Tanzanian education, by and large, is not really well geared toward fostering entrepreneurship.”
The University of Dar es Salaam, however, has been taking part in a more concerted effort to develop youth entrepreneurial skills. There is a university-wide module on
entrepreneurship for undergraduate students. The university’s business school offers a bachelor’s degree in business administration and a master’s in entrepreneurship and enterprise development.
However, as Samwell said, “entrepreneurial culture in Tanzania was suppressed in
favor of building a socialist society for over 20 years after independence.” As a result,
“there are few people with exposure or experience in serious, private business activities,
and many of those who currently populate the small business sector are ‘survivalists’ rather than serious entrepreneurs.”
As the country prepares for general elections in 2015, people hope that the politicians will
maintain the existing tranquility to help the country leap forward. Niboye said he is
optimistic that as long as Tanzania “now more than at any time collaborates with many
countries for mutual benefits, after 2015 (it) will be able to move forward.”
Incumbent president Jakaya Kikwete, who served as minister of foreign affairs under President Benjamin Mkapa between 1995 and 2005, has been extremely active internationally and focused substantial energy on foreign relations and attracting foreign investors.
If former Prime Minister Edward Lowassa — a potential party candidate — and the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi party win the elections in 2015, there will be less concern about foreign relations, Hyden said.
“There will no doubt be a greater focus on creating opportunities for Tanzanians,
strengthening the education sector while also continuing to nurture a business friendly
environment for locals as well as foreigners,” he said. “I think that Lowassa will be much
more anxious to have a good relationship with Kenya and there will be a new Tanzanian
assertiveness that is not based on a sense of inferiority but a sense of partnership,”
Hyden concluded.
Istvan Tarrosy is assistant professor of political science and director of the Africa
Research Center at the University of Pecs, Hungary. He is Fulbright visiting research fellow at the Center for African Studies, University of Florida.
