Tanzania foreign policy dismissed as ‘ineffective’

Tanzania is about to host US President Barack Obama. It will mark the third time that a US president will be visiting the country.

Obama’s predecessor, George W. Bush, visited the country in 2008. Mr Bush has also visited the country a number of times after retiring in 2009. Previously, Bill Clinton came to Tanzania in 2000. Like Mr Bush, Mr Clinton has also made numerous visits to the country after leaving office.

A high-profile meeting of African first ladies will take place during Mr Obama’s visit. Also in attendance will be US First Lady Michelle Obama, Mr Bush and former First Lady Laura Bush.

President Obama’s visit comes hot on the heels of a tour by Chinese President Xi Jinping, who was accompanied by a delegation of businesspeople and potential investors. Obama’s delegation will comprise at least 700 people, most of them businesspeople, which is good news for local investors.

Many people view such high-profile visits politically, but lawmaker Mwigulu Nchembasays such tours should be discussed from an economic point of view. Speaking in Parliament when debating the government’s 2013/14 budget, Mr Nchemba(Iramba West-CCM) said visits by presidents of powerful countries presented Tanzania with many economic opportunities and possibilities.

But many people have been asking themselves if the country benefits economically from such visits. Questions are also asked if local businesspeople could strike lucrative deals with their visiting counterparts. Answers to such questions should be found in the national foreign policy.

As a result of changing global environments, Tanzania decided to change its foreign policy framework and make it a tool to support economic transformation. Nowadays Tanzania regards foreign relations economically, thus the adoption of the economic diplomacy policy as a focus. But how has the policy performed so far?

According to the Parliamentary Committee for Foreign Affairs and International Relations, implementation of the policy has been poor. Similar views are shared by the Official Opposition in Parliament as well as individual MPs.

“Although Tanzania’s foreign policy focuses on economic diplomacy, implementation of this theme was not satisfactory. When the committee inquired why, it was told that budget constraints were the major factor,” noted Mr Juma Nkamia (Kondoa South-CCM) when reading the committee’s views during debate on the budget proposals of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation.

Mr Nkamia noted that the fact that the country had failed to capitalise on Tanzanians living abroad showed that the policy was a failure. Although President Jakaya Kikwete has been sensitising Tanzanians living and working outside the country to contribute towards the development of their country, the ministry has not set clear modalities.

But Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation minister Bernard Membe says in addition to a meagre budget, legal constraints also frustrated their efforts to enable Tanzanians living and working overseas to contribute to national development. He notes that lack of a law that allowed dual citizenship was among the hurdles.

The Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs and International Relations, Mr Ezekiah Wenje, said in his speech in Parliament recently that it was unfortunate that the ministry had failed to prepare a comprehensive report on how the economic diplomacy policy had helped the country.

“Embassies have failed to provide a report on how they have been capitalising on economic diplomacy. That is because they don’t implement this policy,” he said.

Mr Wenje said the government should immediately dispatch an economic attaché to Tanzania’s embassy in China. He commended the government’s decision to establish a consul in Guangzhou, China,and said the process should be speeded up.

Mr Muhammad Ibrahim Sanya (MjiMkongwe-CUF) said the economic diplomacy policy was a failure and government should stop referring to it as a national guideline in its quest to seek international contribution in economic advancement.