I visited Tanzania for the first time almost 15 years ago. One impression from that journey that I believe I share with the vast majority of visitors: there is a warmth and kindness surrounding you that makes it easy to feel welcome.
When I came here as an Ambassador in 2007 much was the same. The friendliness is still here. Unfortunately that also applies to much of the income poverty, not least in the rural areas.
However, a new openness has emerged in the society. Not so self-evident in a country that switched to a multiparty system as late as 1992. Today scandals are being discussed, the parliament is being vitalized, ministers are being forced to resign. Steps are taken in both the right and wrong direction, but more often in the right.
There is also a stronger determination to build new relations with the surrounding world – more trade, more investments, more of what in the long run can bring Tanzania out of the sometimes numbing aid dependency. I wish that the reform process was even more energetic, but over a ten year period a great deal has still been accomplished.
Development cooperation through Sida is not the only task of the Embassy but the largest and most important one. It is about 800 million SEK annually that for instance goes to building schools, electrification of the rural areas where 98 % lack electricity, improved business climate, more effective audits, independent media and stronger human rights organisations. We run the cooperation in a way that will enable Tanzania to one day manage without aid. We build their systems rather than make them dependant on hundreds of different donor systems.
For me Tanzania is not the “aid recipient Tanzania”. It is instead a country full of nature experiences and intriguing travel destinations, filled with fantastic people and filled with relations with Sweden – beginning with the church missions and a bit later over 40 years of development cooperation. This is evident not least in the research cooperation. Slowly, slowly we also see growing business interests and increasing commerce.
There is so much that can be further built upon in the relations between Tanzania and Sweden, and we are there to facilitate this as much as we can. A warm welcome to the website of the Swedish Embassy.
Staffan HerrströmAmbassador