What will change under Tanzania’s diaspora special status

Dar es Salaam. The government will propose several amendments to its immigration and land laws during the next parliamentary Budget sitting to grant special status to Tanzania’s diaspora.

The government will propose the changes through miscellaneous amendments during the 2024/25 Budget sitting, which will start early next month, according to Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation minister January Makamba.

Speaking during an interview with The Citizen and its stablemate Mwananchi in Dar es Salaam at the weekend, Mr Makamba said the proposals, among other objectives, seek to give Tanzanians in diaspora the legitimacy to own property such as land in Tanzania and that they should be free to pass on or transfer the said property.

The proposed special status also intends to facilitate access to health insurance for their families residing in Tanzania, he added when outlining achievements attained during President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s three years in office with regard to the Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation ministry.

The government is also seeking to ensure that Tanzanians in diaspora who hold passports of other countries are not subjected to the vigorous visa application procedures that foreign nationals go through.

The special status, Mr Makamba said, aims to eliminate bureaucratic hurdles and encourage Tanzanians living abroad to engage more actively with their homeland.

“There will be no need for visas...they will simply purchase tickets and fly home,” he said.

The issue of the diaspora was crucial to Tanzania, especially considering that in 2023 alone, diaspora remittances to the country totalled $751 million, according to Mr Makamba.

He said the government has also entered into agreements with some countries to regulate and facilitate decent employment for Tanzanian citizens or formalise employment, especially in the Middle East, with the aim of addressing existing challenges.

Samia’s three years in office

Since coming into office in 2021, President Hassan has opened up the country in a significant way, Mr Makamba said.

Tanzania has broadened and strengthened its bilateral relations with other nations, as well as international organisations during that time.

“The President’s trips have been highly beneficial, both directly and indirectly. Many of the successes we have achieved as a country can be attributed to the President’s travels and engagements outside the country.”

Mr Makamba mentioned as an example the surge in foreign investments from $1 billion in 2020 to nearly $5.6 billion in 2023.

Tanzania Investment Centre (TIC) data shows that from March 2021 to March 10, 2024, TIC registered 1,188 projects, representing an increase of 63.19 percent compared to the 728 projects registered from March 2018 to March 10, 2021.

The number of jobs created as a result of the new projects jumped by 231.63 percent from 104,172 jobs generated from 2018 to 2021 to 345,464 jobs expected to be created from March 2021 to March 2024.

Among these projects, 35 percent are owned by Tanzanians, 41 percent by foreigners and 24 percent are joint ventures between Tanzanians and foreign nationals.

The assessment also shows that the majority of the registered projects are in priority sectors, namely manufacturing, which has 538 projects (45.29 percent); transportation, 225 projects (18.94 percent); tourism, 110 projects (9.26 percent); construction of commercial buildings, 106 projects (8.92 percent) and agriculture, 106 projects (8.5 percent).

According to Mr Makamba, another key achievement during President Hassan’s tenure so far is a significant increase in development financing through loans and grants from development agencies.

“Tanzania’s influence in international engagement has also been growing in areas such as climate change, renewable energy, clean cooking, food security and human resource development.”

Mr Makamba added that the President’s voice has been crucial in key issues at regional and global levels, while at the same time Tanzania had been a key partner in promoting good neighbourliness in safety and security across the region.

KPIs for ambassadors

Swearing in new ambassadors last August, President Hassan said some envoys were not performing as expected, including their failure to identify opportunities for Tanzania in the countries they have been posted to.

In addressing this issue, Mr Makamba said the ministry will next month meet with all ambassadors representing Tanzania in other countries.

“In addition to revisiting the directives issued by the President in the past four months, we have also been assessing the performance of each ambassador,” he added.

“This involves scrutinising every available opportunity to provide specific instructions and explanations, along with specific Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) for each ambassador. We have found this to be the best approach because each embassy operates differently, with its own set of opportunities and challenges.”

The road ahead

Mr Makamba said the prospects look promising ahead of next year’s General Election.

There are already numerous invitations from foreign countries and planned visits to Tanzania by foreign heads of state, he added.

The minister said Tanzania will continue to enhance diplomacy through the introduction of a new embassy in Vietnam and a consulate in Mumbai, India.