ACT-Wazalendo bets big: 12 million jobs in five years

The pledge is a direct challenge to the ruling party, CCM, which in its Manifesto has promised at least eight million new jobs, half in the formal economy.

Both numbers are ambitious in a country where the formal workforce is just over four million, and more than 70 percent of working Tanzanians still survive in the informal sector.

Economists say neither figure is impossible, but the question is not whether it can be done, but how.

For Tanzania’s restless youth, unemployment has become a simmering political fault line.

The employment landscape

The Tanzania Formal Sector Employment and Earnings Survey, released in July 2025 by the National Bureau of Statistics, reports just 4,073,887 people in formal jobs across the mainland and Zanzibar.

The private sector leads with 2,853,566 workers, while the public sector employs 1,220,322.

The informal economy remains dominant, employing 71.8 percent of workers, about 25.95 million people, according to the TICGL Data Driven Centre.

Globally, youth unemployment is a chronic challenge.

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) put the 2023 global rate at 5.1 percent.

Tanzania’s rate is harder to pin down.

Macrotrends estimates it at 2.58 percent in 2023, barely changed from 2.59 percent in 2022, though such figures mask underemployment and informal work realities.

ACT-Wazalendo’s ‘People’s economy’

ACT-Wazalendo’s 2025–2030 Manifesto makes job creation its top priority, promising 12 million formal jobs in five years.

“We aim to build a people’s economy by generating jobs through industry, agriculture, fisheries, livestock, small businesses, the arts, technology and social services,” the manifesto declares.

The party envisions large-scale state investments in production sectors, with citizens as “the engine of the national economy.”

Its economic vision rests on expanding labour-intensive industries and raising both national and per capita income.

Strategies on paper

ACT-Wazalendo says it will create 2.8 million industrial jobs and boost export markets for creative works like blacksmithing, woodcarving, painting, and other handicrafts.

The arts, sports, and culture sectors would generate at least 500,000 jobs, backed by “sound policies and investments.”

The party pledges to abolish the tender system in public institutions for services like security, cleaning, and maintenance, replacing contractors with directly employed staff.

It also promises to absorb all graduates in teaching, health, and agriculture, introduce annual recruitment in these sectors, and strengthen public enterprises to operate efficiently and profitably.

Other proposals outlined in the plan include collaborating with trade unions to safeguard workers’ rights, reducing PAYE tax to increase disposable income, and establishing a legal framework that allows the formation of independent unions.

The plan also calls for the reinstatement of a pension system that would allow retirees to receive 50 percent of their benefits as a lump sum, as well as a commitment to clear all verified government debts within two years of assuming office.

Bold but risky

Head of the Department of Public Communication at St Augustine University of Tanzania, Dr Kaanael Kaale, calls both ACT-Wazalendo’s and CCM’s job targets “ambitious but possible” if backed by the right environment and heavy investments in high-employment sectors like agriculture, manufacturing, and entrepreneurship.

But technology could be a spoiler. “Digitalisation and artificial intelligence will inevitably replace some roles,” Dr Kaale warns.

“The ILO’s 2023 report shows that many young Africans, including Tanzanians, struggle to secure formal jobs, with most opportunities being informal and low-paying. Without strong strategies and close monitoring, these goals will be difficult to achieve.”

Jobs, justice, and governance

For Reverend Glorious Shoo, presiding bishop of the Tanzania Assemblies of God (TAG), job creation is inseparable from governance.

“Sustainable jobs require justice, freedom of expression, accountable leadership, and strong institutions,” he says.

“Before counting future jobs, we must start with fundamental reforms. Without a free political and economic environment, pledges remain paper promises.”

Political analyst, Conrad Kabewa, agrees that 12 million jobs in five years is technically possible — but warns that numbers without plans are meaningless.

“Right now, many young people are self-employed in the informal sector, street vendors, motorcycle taxi riders. These are survival jobs, not the kind a government should boast about,” he says.

Mr Kabewa argues that as a market economy, Tanzania’s growth depends on a thriving private sector, something the state has yet to fully support.

He points to China’s example of setting a goal to produce 20 million billionaires, backed by grassroots nurturing and a coordinated national plan.

“With a comprehensive strategy, every sector can align its smaller plans to the national vision. That’s how you talk about job creation with certainty,” he says.

The road ahead

ACT-Wazalendo’s jobs pledge is as much a political statement as it is an economic plan, a signal that it intends to compete with CCM not just on rhetoric but on scale.

Whether voters see it as visionary or unrealistic may depend less on the number itself and more on the credibility of the roadmap.

With youth unemployment a rising political pressure point, both parties face the same test: turning grand promises into real, lasting jobs.

In the end, Tanzania’s voters may decide not on who promises the most, but on who convinces them that they can actually deliver.