 Tanzania
getting ready for take off |
If German explorer Karl Peters and British missionaries Dr David Livingstone and Henry Morton Stanley discovered that the vast potentials they faced in the 19th century Tanzania still today were unexploited to the great extent, they would be astonished. Furthermore, despite the diversified histories the country has successfully managed to pull itself together by becoming one of the most stable east-African countries, and so forth an ideal and potential destination for those interested in new business opportunities.
As Tanzania's
Prime Minister Frederick Sumaye expressed,
his country has already committed itself to the
global economy: "We have to make sure that we enter
into this new environment and benefit from it. We
make sure that we have the right tools to enter
the globalisation". |
Tanzania, land of Kilimanjaro which is Africa's highest mountain, is opening up to foreign investors after the collapse of a state command economy, that was prevalent from 1967 until 1990 when it was unofficially ended. The treasures and vast unexploited natural resources such as minerals have for centuries attracted people from various nationalities including Arabs to visit and established themselves in the country especially along the eastern coastline, Zanzibar, Lindi, Mtwara and Tanga, where typical traditional Arabic culture are still prevailing. The country which covers an area of over 940,000 square kilometres has over 120 tribes and an estimated population of over 31 million people who are strongly united by Swahili, the national language and a traditional culture of peacefulness. A lot of this peacefulness and societal stability dates back to Tanzania's first president Dr Julius Kambarage Nyerere, who is considered to be the farther of Tanzania's nation state.
However, soon after its independence, at the end of 1970s, Tanzania's economy started faltering due to low commodity prices at world market, costs of the war with Uganda's Iddi Amin and general mismanagement and corruption. |
