SPECIAL REPORT : Why are Tanzanians are so unhappy despite the stability?

What you need to know:

  • Ranked 153 out of 155 countries, Tanzania seats at the very bottom of the list, meaning, Tanzanians are slightly happier than the nationals of the crisis-ridden Burundi (154) and Central African Republic (155).

Dar es Salaam. Are Tanzanians really as unhappy as the recent United Nation’s World Happiness Report 2017 suggests? That is the question that has probably been boggling the minds of many of the nation’s citizens since the latest findings were released a little over a week ago.

Ranked 153 out of 155 countries, Tanzania seats at the very bottom of the list, meaning, Tanzanians are slightly happier than the nationals of the crisis-ridden Burundi (154) and Central African Republic (155).

With the results came the shocking realisation that even war-torn countries like Libya, Somalia, South Sudan and Syria are much happier the Tanzania -- the so-called haven of peace. Apparently, it the report is anything to go by, there is no peace of mind among the majority of the country’s citizen. But why?

“Tanzania sandwiched by Burundi and Syria in the World Saddest countries list. Are we that sad?” tweeted Kigoma Urban MP and Alliance for Change and Transparency (ACT-Wazalendo) leader Zitto Kabwe.

Another major surprise from the report is that Libya, which has been experiencing civil war for the past eight years is the third happiest country in Africa, 68 globally, while Somalia, which has not seen peace for almost three decades now is the fifth happiest country in the continent, and 93 globally.

Last year, Tanzania was ranked 148 out of 157 countries, meaning it was the ninth saddest country in the world. In 2015, the country was ranked 146 out of 158, meaning it was the 13th saddest country. That means in the last two years, the country had dropped from 13th saddest to the third saddest country in the world.

The surprise was, however, not limited to Tanzania alone. In Kenya, questions were asked as to how the country managed to become the 13th happiest country in Africa, believing they were among the saddest.

And in India, the major question was how the country, which is seen as stable and happy compared to its neighbours, was ranked at 122, trailing Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Nepal.

Parameters of happiness

The question then is: what are the parameters of happiness that the UN experts used that left Tanzania the third saddest country in the world?

Six variables are used, and they are Gross Domestic Product (GDP) per capita, social support, healthy life expectancy, social freedom, generosity and absence of corruption.

The analysis of the levels, changes, and determinants of happiness among and within nations was based chiefly on individual life evaluations, roughly 1,000 responders were reached in all 155 countries measured.

The central question was: “Please imagine a ladder, with steps numbered from 0 at the bottom to 10 at the top. The top of the ladder represents the best possible life for you and the bottom of the ladder represents the worst possible life for you. On which step of the ladder would you say you personally feel you stand at this time?”

On social support, respondents were askied, “If you were in trouble, do you have relatives or friends you can count on to help you whenever you need them, or not?”

“Are you satisfied or dissatisfied with your freedom to choose what you do with your life?” was a question on freedom to make life choices variable.

Another question was, “Have you donated money to a charity in the past month?” which defined generosity. While on perceptions of corruption the questions were “Is corruption widespread throughout the government or not?” and “Is corruption widespread within businesses or not?”

In general, and out of 10 Tanzanian respondents, reviewed their situation and decided it was down in the ladder by 3.3. Algeria, which tops the continent as the happiest country, (53 globally) scored 5.8.

East Africa is fairly the saddest region in the continent, the happiest country here is Kenya with 4.3 (13 in Africa and 112 globally), followed by Uganda with 4.0 (27 in Africa and 133 globally), South Sudan with 3.5 (38 in Africa and 147 globally) followed by Tanzania, and Burundi is the unhappiest with 2.9.

The life-course

The report indicates the current life satisfaction based on, of course, immediate influences (current situation) but also more distant ones going back to childhood, schooling and family background.

“When we are adults, our happiness depends significantly on our adult situation—our economic situation (our income, education and employment), our social situation (whether we have a partner and whether we are involved in crime), and our personal health (physical and mental). These in turn depend partly on our development as children (intellectual, behavioural and emotional), which in turn depend on family and schooling,” reads the report in part.

Unhappy Africa

Although the report did not categorically explain why Tanzania is one of the saddest countries in the world, it explained in detail under a special chapter titled ‘Waiting for Happiness in Africa’ why the continent in general is the saddest in the world.

According to the report, the quality of life of African people can be observed from a number of different perspectives. There have been many frames of reference for the narrative of Africa since independence ranging from the dismissive ‘basket case’ to the ‘structural adjustment’ imposed by the International Monetary Fund during the 1980s followed by debt forgiveness in the 1990s.

War on terror

The ‘Africa Rising’ narrative in the new millennium was followed by the global economic recession; and lately Africa has become part of the so-called ‘war on terror’.

Each of these narratives homes in on a different set of factors that may determine the fortunes of Africa and its people.

“Twenty-first century Africa is no longer associated only with ‘endless famine, disease, and dictatorship’. The ‘Africa Rising’ narrative, which overturned earlier stereotypes, projected a continent with a growing urban middle class market with new consumer appetites.

Africa’s youthfulness promised to be an asset in an increasingly ageing global society. The continent’s rich mineral wealth had not been exhausted and its agricultural land was still waiting to be exploited. In the new millennium, foreign direct investment in Africa eclipsed development aid for the first time since the colonial era,” it reads in part.

However, even with the good strides that the continent managed to achieve, the report then argues that, “in short, African people’s expectations that they and their countries would flourish under self-rule and democracy appear not to have been met.”

Africa’s lower levels of happiness compared to other countries in the world might be attributed to that disappointment with different aspects of development under democracy. Although most citizens still believe that democracy is the best political system, they are critical of good governance in their countries.

The report also noted that while there has been significant improvement in meeting basic needs according to the Afrobarometer index of ‘lived poverty’, population pressure may have stymied infrastructure and youth development.

“Most countries in the world project that life circumstances will improve in future. However, Africa’s optimism may be exceptional. African people demonstrate ingenuity that makes life bearable even under less than perfect circumstances,” reads the report in part.

“What if Africa looks to its youth to realise the continent’s dreams of prosperity? What if the African youth’s confidence in their future and their entrepreneurial spirit were to be matched by substantial investment in their development? Then, no doubt, African countries would join the ranks of the world’s prosperous and happy nations,” suggests the report.

The happiest countries

According to the index, Norway is the happiest country in the world, with a score of 7.53, followed by Denmark 7.52, Iceland 7.50 and Finland with 7.4 makes the top five.

Norway moves to the top of the ranking from fourth position last year despite weaker oil prices. “It is sometimes said that Norway achieves and maintains its high happiness not because of its oil wealth, but in spite of it. By choosing to produce its oil slowly, and investing the proceeds for the future rather than spending them in the present, Norway has insulated itself from the boom and bust cycle of many other resource rich economies,” reads the report in part adding, “to do this successfully requires highlevels of mutual trust, shared purpose, generosity and good governance, all factors that help to keep Norway and other top countries where they are in the happiness rankings.”

All of the other countries in the top ten also have high values in all six of the key variables used to explain happiness differences among countries and through time—income, healthy life expectancy, having someone to count on in times of trouble, generosity, freedom and trust, with the latter measured by the absence of corruption in business and government.

None of the world’s biggest economies made it to the top ten, the happiest in this group is US with 6.99, which make it the 14th happiest nation, Germany is 16 with 6.95, UK scored 6.7 and ranked at 19.

France came in the 31st position with the score 6.4, Russia number 49 with 5.96, Japan ranked at 51 with 5.92. The unhappiest nation in this lot is China which is ranked at 79 with a score of 5.2.