Denmark and Tanzania

1.1 INTRODUCTION, RESULTS AND FUTURE VISION

Denmark’s cooperation with Tanzania is long-standing, strong and in continuous development. Tanzania was the first African country with which Denmark initiated a development assistance partnership in 1963. This was just one year after the Danish Parliament (Folketinget) passed the first Danish law on international development cooperation and shortly after the Tanzanian mainland, called Tangayika, became independent.

Over the preceding 50 years, Tanzania has received more Danish development assistance than any other country, amounting to more than 14 billion DKK. Today, Tanzania continues to be one of the main partners for Danish development assistance and will remain so over the medium term. Throughout the 50 years of cooperation, the main objective of the Danish development cooperation has been to contribute to Tanzania’s nation-building efforts and to the struggle against its massive poverty.

With support from Denmark and other development partners, many good results have been created in Tanzania. To name a few:

Tanzania is today one of the most stable and peaceful democracies in Africa, and its success in nation building is second to none in Africa. Significant improvements have occurred in the legislative and institutional frameworks for promoting good governance, and the opposition parties, media, and civil society operate more freely today than at any other time in Tanzania’s history. The country has also experienced impressive and stable growth rates over the last decades, due partly to strong macro-economic management and support from its development partners. Today, Tanzania is one of the world’s 20 fastest growing economies.

Denmark has played a catalytic role in the development of a strong financial sector. Tanzania’s strong economic growth, which is expected to accelerate due to its rich national resources, gives the country a stronger basis than previously to reduce the still much needed reduction in poverty. The most impressive results from the long period of cooperation are to be found in the areas that have received the most development assistance and can be seen in the growth of the public’s access to public services. Substantial support from Denmark and from other partners has helped ensure rapid and comprehensive expansion of the population’s access to social services such as health, education and access to water. These developments have also led to substantial results in the fight against poverty in a broad sense. Poverty is not only economic. It also involves lack of access to public services such as health and education. Overall, the experience from 50 years of cooperation is good, and there is a solid basis for future cooperation.

The need for further cooperation and development assistance is evident. Tanzania continues to be one of the world’s poorest nations. Almost one-third of its population lives in extreme poverty, and inequality measured in terms of income and in terms of access to and quality of social services, is growing rapidly. Achieving the Tanzanian government’s vision of reaching middle-income status by 2025 will require strong and innovative efforts. Tanzania is at a crossroad, and the next ten years will be critical for the country’s future. The choices made will determine the distribution of income and assets for future generations. And if the right choices are not made, it will pose a challenge to the country’s long tradition of peaceful coexistence between many and very different ethnic and religious groups.

1.2 VISION FOR THE CONTINUED PARTNERSHIP

In light of the 50 years of good results and the great need for continued support, Denmark will continue to be a strong and engaged partner to Tanzania. This country strategy paper presents the Danish Government’s view of the current and emerging challenges and opportunities in Tanzania, as well as strategic objectives for the continued partnership and selected focus areas of cooperation.

The overall vision for the future partnership with Tanzania is to enable all Tanzanians to take an active part in the country’s development and to ensure a continuation of its long history of peaceful coexistence, democracy and development. With this overall objective, the three main strategic objectives of Denmark’s cooperation with Tanzania are to assist and promote the Tanzanian government’s efforts to:

1. reduce poverty and inequality and to ensure equal access of quality social services,

2. promote inclusive green growth and employment, and

3. strengthen democracy, good governance, rule of law and respect for all human rights.

In order to achieve these strategic objectives, special attention will be given to reaching tangible results within the following focus areas:

a. the health sector,

b. the agricultural sector,

c. the demand to ensure good governance and human rights for all,

d. regional peace and stability.

Development cooperation will continue to be a major element of the partnership, but Danish development assistance must increasingly play a catalytic role in promoting the necessary changes and progress within key areas and in leveraging other forms of public and private support and cooperation. In addition, the Danish-Tanzanian partnership will be strengthened in other areas, notably within commercial relations and political cooperation, both regionally and globally.