Tanzania diaspora remittances hit $570 million

Souvenir banknotes of 100 US dollars and 50 US dollars. Photo Credit | Getty Images

What you need to know:

  • This is 42 percent increase in 2021 on top of the $400 million that Tanzanians living abroad sent to their homeland way back in 2020

Dodoma. The value of diaspora remittances rose by 42 percent last year as the government stepped up campaigns to ensure Tanzanians living abroad contribute more to their homeland’s development.

Requesting Parliament to endorse a total of Sh208.266 billion for her ministry for the financial year 2022/23, Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation minister Liberata Mulamula said Tanzania received $569.5 million in remittances from its diaspora in 2021, up from $400 million in 2020.

“This was due to the Ministry’s initiatives in sensitising Tanzanian diaspora to contribute to the development of the country,” she said, adding that the group [diaspora] have also invested Sh3.9 billion in UTT Amis and Sh2.3 billion in a project known as Hamidu City Park which is being implemented by the National Housing Corporation at Kigamboni in Dar es Salaam.

She detailed a number of initiatives that the government was undertaking and how the diasporas were contributing to their country’s development efforts.

She said more investments were in the offing, saying Tanzanians in USA (Tanzania Diaspora Hub) plan to invest at least Sh400 million in sectors related to agriculture and fishing, of which would see Tanga, Njombe and Singida being the major recipient regions.

The country’s diaspora in the United Kingdom, dubbed the Tanzania–UK Healthcare Diaspora Association (Tuhede) have distributed various Healthcare Appliances worth Sh100 million to Zanzibar.

Apparently, in efforts to up with the involvement of Tanzanians in diaspora in their country’s development efforts, the government, said Ms Mulamula, was prioritizing granting them a special status in the ongoing review of the country’s foreign policy.

“The government understands diasporas’ long-time call for Tanzania to adopt dual citizenship. The Ministry, working with various stakeholders, is preparing a proposal that will show guidelines on issues pertaining to diasporas, including their special status,” she said.

Though Tanzania’s diaspora remittances have been going up, the country still tails regions peers, with Kenya leading the pack when it received $3.7 billion in diaspora remittances last year, thanks to its dual citizenship policy.

Debating the budget, some lawmakers said Tanzania needed to adopt dual citizenship, saying fears that the adoption could jeopardise the country’s peace and security were unfounded.

“Our failure to adopt dual citizenship is only denying us foreign currency as well as depriving our own people some of their rights,” said Ms Taska Mbogo (Special Seats).

Gairo MP Ahmed Shabiby shared similar sentiments that the government’s dillydallying was baseless.

Meanwhile, Ambassador Mulamula said with the Russia-Ukraine war, Tanzania was in support of ending the conflict through diplomatic channels.

On the Israel-Palestine conflict, Tanzania stands for a two-state solution.