China to Assist Tanzania in Developing Infrastructure and Maritime Trade

China offers East African countries assistance in developing maritime trade, while Beijing and Dodoma are converting strong political ties into promising economic projects.

On November 2–4, Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan pays a state visit to China. Liu Qinghai, director of the Center for African Economic Studies at the Institute of African Studies, Zhejiang Normal University, noted in an interview with Sputnik that the political significance of the China-Tanzania summit talks goes beyond bilateral relations.

She noted that the Tanzanian president is one of the first heads of state to visit China since the conclusion of the 20th National Congress of the Chinese Communist Party (CCP) in late October. Suluhu is also the first African head of state to visit China since the important political event. Liu Qinghai believes this signifies the particular strategic importance of China-Africa relations and the exemplary role of China-Tanzania relations in China-Africa cooperation.

She added: “Since assuming office in March 2021, President Suluhu has explored the views of all sides of Tanzanian society, which has generated a favorable desire to improve the investment environment and attract foreign investment. This has instilled confidence in Chinese enterprises. In recent years, Tanzania has made good progress in economic growth and poverty eradication. Tanzania is now achieving stable economic growth. Air Tanzania is preparing to resume flights to China, and will soon resume direct flights from Dar es Salaam to Guangzhou. From a long-term perspective, Tanzania is politically and economically stable and has unique advantages and huge potential for development. President Suluhu's visit to China actively promotes new policies. It will give more vitality to rapidly developing Tanzania.”

The current visit is the first one for Samia Suluhu Hassan to China as president. Mbelwa Kairuki, Tanzania's ambassador to China, noted in this regard that the two countries have strong ties that have brought many benefits, and the visit to China is proof of the confidence that foreign leaders and peoples put in the Tanzanian presidential administration, the Daily News Tanzania (Dar es Salaam) quoted the ambassador.

The visit of the Tanzanian president to China is a logical result of the development of bilateral relations, Nikolai Shcherbakov, a professor at the Higher School of Economics and an analyst at the Center for African Studies of the Institute of General History of the Russian Academy of Sciences (RAS), told Sputnik:

“Samia Suluhu Hassan is a new African politician, so it is only natural for her to seek to coordinate plans for contact and cooperation with China, to get to know them better. The president is forward-looking, and the Chinese love to host African leaders. China has the ability to impress them, to a certain extent, to attract them, to convince them that they should further develop cooperation and increase trade. Therefore, this is quite an expected, logical result of many years of cooperation.”

The trade volume between China and Tanzania has increased by 20 per cent in the past three years. It stood at $6.74 billion in 2021, bringing Tanzania's exports of agricultural products, minerals, and seafood higher than in previous years.

The talks in Beijing are expected to help increase Tanzania's exports to China, especially of crops and products enjoying high demand in China. Primarily, this could be soybeans.

By October this year, the Tanzania Investment Center (TIC) had registered a total of 1,098 Chinese projects worth $9.6 billion for the mainland and 15 projects worth $202.2 million for Zanzibar.

Samia Suluhu Hassan’s visit to China will open up new opportunities for cooperation in many areas. First and foremost, in the digital economy, expert Liu Qinghai believes:

“The Tanzanian government's five-year plan prioritizes the digital economy. Mobile payments in the country are growing rapidly and the country has taken steps to liberalize the services. This will allow foreign investors to acquire the assets of listed telecommunications companies. President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s visit to China is expected to lead to new digital economy cooperation agreements with China. The joint establishment of an information exchange network between China and Tanzania and support for building digital economic infrastructure in Tanzania will open up more opportunities for China-Tanzania digital economic cooperation.”

Expert Liu Qinghai also pointed to other promising hotspots for Chinese investment in Tanzania:

“Tanzania lacks modern roads, railways and marinas, yet Sino-African cooperation in these areas holds great promise. For example, in upgrading and increasing the capacity of the Tazara Railway, as well as planning and cooperation in designing a bridge linking the mainland to Zanzibar. The World Bank and the European Investment Bank are financing the development of Tanzania's Songo Songo gas field with reserves of 1.3 trillion cubic meters. Chinese enterprises can cooperate with these financial institutions to develop oil and gas resources."

She also said that she views conditions for the development of an agro-processing industry in Tanzania as "good". The country's proven resources include diamonds, gold, coal, iron, phosphates, and rare earth elements, while only deposits of gold, titanium, nickel and natural gas are being developed on a large scale. Liu Qinghai believes agricultural products processing, extraction and processing of minerals and energy resources are spheres that Chinese enterprises can consider investing in.

The construction and modernization of Bagamoyo Port is a key infrastructure project that China is lobbying for after the administration of President Samia Suluhu Hassan expressed its willingness to revive the frozen megaport project. African media also reported that investors from Oman have expressed interest in this project. Expert Nikolai Shcherbakov believes that the choice in favor of China would be the right one for Tanzania:

“East Africa knows how to respond to Chinese signs of attention, and the Chinese partners know how to offer these signs with dignity. China's position in the event of a tender will prevail because it is a renowned global professional in developing such sites. China is very well known in Tanzania as a reliable partner. Oman is better known for its unlimited resources than its professionalism and off-the-shelf technology in port facilities. It does not have its own industry and technology to develop this area, but has the finances to acquire any technology and solutions. Nor does it have expertise comparable to that of China.”

Many East African countries, which have no direct access to the ocean, trade through Tanzanian ports and harbors. The modernization of Bagamoyo Port will strengthen their logistical capacity and will give China added convenience in importing African raw materials.