President Samia’s trip to the US generates $1 billion in investments

Dar es Salaam. President Samia Suluhu Hassan and US Vice President Kamala Harris met on Friday April 15, at the White House in Washington DC , with the two leaders pledging strong ties for the two nations.

But, perhaps, high on the agenda was the fact that the President’s tour which is her second to the United States has generated almost $1 billion dollars in investments from various from companies in the US.

Speaking at a briefing US Vice President Kamala Harris said their talks mainly centered on Tanzania’s economic growth.

“We welcome, of course the attention you are giving to that and the focus of this trip including the focus of investment opportunities in relation to the economy in the area of tourism.

She said that President Samia’s trip to the US has generated almost a billion dollars in new investment from companies in the United States.

The investments, she said, will contribute to major economic growth to Tanzania, but in a way also contribute the economic growth and jobs in the United States as well.

She concluded: our administration is deeply committed to strengthening the ties with Tanzania and African countries in general. This is an area of intentional focus.

President Samia on the other hand congratulated the US Vice President for becoming the first woman to hold that office just as the case has been with her.

“This is the first time we are meeting since assumption of office, I would like to congratulate President Joe Biden and yourself  Madam Kamala and the Democratic Party for the victory during the general election held in 2020. We in Tanzania closely followed that election because for the first time there was a woman contesting for the vice presidency, so we were very inspired,” she said

The visit to the White House in Washington DC, comes exactly 60 years since Tanzania’s founding Father Julius Nyerere visited President John F Kennedy in 1962.

“The United States and Tanzania have enjoyed relations for the last 60 years, my government would like to see the relations grow further and strengthened to greater heights. I would like to express my government’s appreciation to the US government for invaluable development assistance and great work the Usaid has been doing in Tanzania over the years particularly on the social and economic development ,” she said.

On the Covid-19 Pandemic she said Tanzania is indeed grateful to the US support and its donations of nearly five million doses Covid vaccines through the covax facility.

On human rights, rule of law and democracy she said:  Tanzania has made commendable strides in these areas as we have mentioned and we are committed to taking deliberate measures to ensure inclusion, coercion, unity and respect to all Tanzanians.

Regarding trade she said she was excited about the prospect of promoting further trade and investment for mutual benefit of the two countries.

“In recognition of that we need to create an ease of doing business, my government in collaboration with the private sector has put in place better conditions and favourable environment for the private sector to thrive. So, my only request here to the US government is to encourage more the private sector from the US to work with us in Tanzania,” said President Samia.

She also touched on the upcoming premiere of the Royal Tour documentary which showcases Tanzania’s tourist attractions and investment potentials saying it was one of the reasons why she was in the US

“The selection of the United States wasn’t by accident, we did it intentionally knowing that the lovers and shakers of entertainment and leisure reside here, therefore creating excellent platform for the visibility of the programme across the globe. Indeed, it is my hope that launch of this documentary will inspire so many people to visit our wonderful country in a not so distant future,” she said.