ASSESSMENTS

Tanzania's Business-Friendly Stance Opens the Door to U.S.-China Competition

May 13, 2022 | 14:40 GMT

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris listens to Tanzania's President Samia Suluhu Hassan make a statement to the press before a meeting in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on April 15, in Washington, D.C.

U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris listens to Tanzania's President Samia Suluhu Hassan make a statement to the press before a meeting in the Eisenhower Executive Office Building on April 15, in Washington, D.C.

(Photo by Brendan Smialowski/AFP via Getty Images)

China is better positioned to benefit from Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan's liberalizing reforms than the United States, which will increase Beijing's diplomatic influence over Dodoma. Since taking office in March 2021, Hassan has streamlined regulatory compliance laws, resolved disputes with foreign investors, and reopened negotiations with international oil and construction companies over stalled projects, and these measures have increased investor confidence and improved relations with external partners. As part of these diplomatic efforts, Hassan has improved Tanzania's human rights conditions, which has, in turn, led to increased economic cooperation with the United States. Hassan has had equal -- if not greater -- diplomatic contact with Chinese counterparts, driven not by alignment on human rights but by investment in key projects....

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