Tanzania-US ties based on 'friendship, mutual respect'

President Barack Obama with Tanzania’s former ambassador to the US Mwanaidi Sinare Maajar during her introduction on September 16, 2010. PHOTO | FILE 

In Summary

• Mrs Mwanaidi Sinare Maajar is the immediate former ambassador of Tanzania to the US. In this interview with The Citizen reporter Damas Kanyabwoya, she shares her experiences in the US and talks about Tanzanian-US bilateral relations.

Mrs Mwanaidi Sinare Maajar is the immediate former ambassador of Tanzania to the US. In this interview with The Citizen reporter Damas Kanyabwoya, she shares her experiences in the US and talks about Tanzanian-US bilateral relations. Excerpt:

QUESTION: Having lived in the US as Tanzania’s ambassador, how do you describe the bilateral relationship between the two countries?

ANSWER: I was privileged to represent the United Republic of Tanzania as ambassador to the United States at a time when the two countries’ bilateral relations, of cooperation and partnership was deepening and growing.

In the words of President Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete, “the United States and the United Republic of Tanzania enjoy deep and very strong bilateral relations” This relationship goes back fifty years beginning with the friendship between President John F. Kennedy and the founding father of our nation President Julius Kambarage Nyerere.

What was the high moment in that relationship that happened during your tenure as ambassador and which you still recall today?

There were many high moments but some do stand out. Obviously for any ambassador a high moment is on the presentation of letters of credence to the head of state of the host country and during a visit of your head of state and President Jakaya Mrisho Kiwete visited the US on the invitation of President Barrack Obama twice during my tour of duty.

The highlight was just before the end of my tour of duty. It was January 24, 2013, when the CEO of the Millennium Challenge Corporation, MCC, Mr Daniel Yohannes called to ask me to schedule a teleconference with my President.

He then told me that he was going to inform the President that Tanzania had qualified for another MCC funding. Knowing the infrastructure development achieved through the first MCC funding of close to $800 million, I was elated.

When I later called the President with the news he jokingly said to me in reference to my impending departure from Washington, that with that in the bag, I could retire.

Any low moment?

My short tour of duty as Tanzania’s ambassador to the US was rather hectic with a lot of good things happening in our bilateral relations. There was no low moment. I had a memorable experience I will never forget.

When you were in the US you worked very hard to promote Tanzania’s business and investment opportunities to American investors. What was their reaction?

When I arrived in the US in 2010 it was obvious the US private sector was ready to look to Africa for investment and trade opportunities and President Barrack Obama’s administration was encouraging the US Private sector to look to Africa as many were predicting, and correctly so, that Africa was soon to be the next global powerhouse.

I realized too that Tanzania was not known in the US and we needed to do a lot of branding by telling our own story.

For many in the US Africa is one and when they hear of conflicts in Africa they lump all countries in the same basket without knowing that Africa is constituted by 54 countries all at different levels of development and that there are countries like Tanzania that enjoy consistent peace and security as well as consistent economic growth over the last decade and one of the fastest growing economies in Africa.

So I started talking to anyone willing to listen. I talked about investment and trade opportunities and tourism attractions. I talked about the US missing in the mobile telecommunications boom, investment in the construction, agriculture and financial sectors as well as the extractive industry.

When they enquired about Chinese influence in Tanzania I challenged them “where were you when China was investing and trading in Africa”?

I initiated the Discover Tanzania VIP Safari involving US Chief Executive Officers of selected sectors to enjoy our tourism attractions and to network with local businesses and political figures as well as to explore for investment and trade opportunities.

The itinerary included a visit at the Dar es Salaam International Trade Fair. In 2012 my guests were amazed to find 400 Chinese companies participating in the trade fair. There was not one American company participating.

That spoke volumes about American private sector investment in Africa and Tanzania. But now there is a noticeable US private sector interest in Africa.

For example Symbion Power was on our very first VIP Safari in 2011 just as was Agrisol Energy, Pike Electric and Camden Hospitality. Although some of those companies had been to Tanzania before, the VIP Safari was catalyst to their investment decisions.

I accepted every opportunity to address Congress Committees as well as businesses and NGOs active in Tanzania. The result was an apparent growing interest in Tanzania as US private sector got to know Tanzania better as a destination for tourism, trade and investment.

The crown of my efforts was the joint State Department and Corporate Council on Africa sponsored Power Sector Trade Mission to Tanzania in February 2012 which involved 23 companies.

I was very happy with the results of the Trade Mission because there are companies that made a decision to look for investment opportunities and they are still in Tanzania