Dar es Salaam — When President John Magufuli came into power at the end of 2015, he may have sent mixed signals on what exactly would shape his new government’s international relations policy after it took him nearly forever to embark on his maiden trip beyond the borders of Tanzania as President.

And when he finally set out on that much-expected journey, it was a 1,460km road trip to Kigali, Rwanda. That did little to stop tongues wagging in the country and across the region over where the fifth phase government really stood with regards to international relations – more so considering what many in the East African Community (EAC) had begun describing as a veiled “snub” of neighbours by Tanzania.

Yet behind the scenes, President Magufuli’s government had started out on a diplomatic charm offensive that in the past few months has seen the State House in Dar es Salaam playing host to various heads of state and senior foreign government officials and signing deals covering diverse aspects of the economy.

This new generation of agreements were aimed at boosting and giving the much-needed fresh impetus to the industrialisation drive that the government embarked by attracting investment, spurring innovation and technological upgrading, and opening up market access for the exports of goods and services from the envisaged industry boom.

And last week, Tanzania struck its latest deal with Ethiopia, with the two nations agreeing to cooperate in 13 areas, mainly energy, water and aviation. In addition, the Ethiopian Prime Minister and his Tanzanian counterpart pledged to boost cooperation in tourism, agriculture, improving taxation systems, manufacturing, mining, education and sports.

With these, the total number of such bilateral agreements that President Magufuli’s government has signed come to 54. The list of foreign nations to whose leaders Tanzania has recently played host and inked deals with include Rwanda, Turkey, India, Ethiopia, Zambia, DRC Congo and Morocco. Dr Magufuli has also been to Nairobi, Kenya, where he and President Uhuru Kenyatta agreed on a time line to start the construction of African Development Bank (AfDB)-funded two link roads meant to improve the movement of goods and people between the two countries.

Source: All Africa

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