A new report has revealed that the relationship between Tanzania and the US has delivered 2.8bn US dollars (about 7.4tri/-) annually in tangible benefits to Tanzanians and the country's economy.
The report titled 'Investing in Tanzania's People' was launched yesterday in Dar es Salaam after a survey conducted by AidData, a US-based research lab at William & Mary's Global Research Institute in close collaboration with the Policy Research for Development (REPOA).
This report considers whether and how the U.S-Tanzania partnership contributes to Tanzania's growth and prosperity. both in the resources it mobilizes and, in the outcomes, it achieves during the period of 10 years from 2012 to 2022.
The findings show that the US government assistance from 2012 to 2022 in agriculture was 546m US dollars (about 1.5tri/-), in infrastructures was 579 million US dollars (approximately 1.5tri/-), in the health sector especially around HIV/Aids was 3.8 billion US dollars (about 10tri/-) and in Malaria was 533 million US dollars (1.4tri/).
The findings indicate that the US was the single largest provider of HIV/AIDS-related funding by far during the period, helping Tanzania to save roughly three-quarters of a million lives.
"Despite an enduring relationship, there is little information readily available to assess the value of this partnership, particularly as they measure progress toward achieving the goals the country set for itself in Tanzania's Development Vision 2025," stated Ms Samantha Custer, AidData's Director of Policy Analysis.
"Our hope is that this report helps inform policymakers by illuminating whether and how the US-Tanzania partnership contributes to Tanzania's growth and prosperity, as well as paving the way for future evidence-based research into this important topic," she added.
Dr Donald Mmari, REPOA's Executive Director, commented that the relationship has benefited Tanzanian businesspeople whereby they enabled them to sell their products in the US market through the African Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA).
"The US investments in Tanzania have opened up opportunities for Tanzanians," Dr Mmari stated.
On his part, Dr Jane Mpapalika, a senior researcher at REPOA, affirmed that the report uncovers and provides a broader picture of aspects arising from the long-standing partnership that may have been overlooked and unnoticed by the Tanzanian community at large.
"The identified contributions and challenges will inform and ensure the partnership continues and improves to promote Tanzania's growth and prosperity," Dr Mpapalika pointed out.
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
The report not only tracks direct US government assistance, but also quantifies the value of indirect benefits from trade and other channels, such as foreign direct investment (FDI), contributions from US-based NGOs in Tanzania, private foundations and individual donors, revenue from American tourists and remittances from Tanzanians working in the US.
"Due to difficulty in measuring non-official investment and financial flows, our estimate of 2.8bn US dollars per year is likely conservative, and the overall US contribution to Tanzania's growth and development could be significantly higher," stated Ms Divya Mathew, a research lead and senior policy specialist.
Tanzanian leaders who were interviewed during the survey routinely cited the US government and private foundation investments in building their capacity to prevent and treat HIV/AIDS, Malaria, Tuberculosis and other diseases as some of the most successful examples of the US-Tanzania partnership.
