Tanzania in 1994

The republic of Tanzania, a member of the Commonwealth, consists of Tanganyika, on the east coast of Africa, and Zanzibar, just off the coast in the Indian Ocean, which includes Zanzibar Island, Pemba Island, and small islets. Area: 942,799 sq km (364,017 sq mi). Pop. (1994 est.): 27,296,000. Cap.: government in process of being transferred from Dar es Salaam; legislature meets in Dodoma, the new capital. Monetary unit: Tanzania shilling, with (Oct. 7, 1994) a free rate of 535 shillings to U.S. $1 (850.92 shillings = £1 sterling). President in 1994, Ali Hassan Mwinyi; prime ministers, John Malecela and, from December 7, Cleopa Msuya.

A World Bank report published on March 14, 1994, evaluated Tanzania’s performance in carrying out its economic reform program as second only to Ghana’s among 29 sub-Saharan African countries. This result had been achieved through close adherence to a stern structural-adjustment schedule, and in 1994 additional measures to curb expenditure and encourage production were introduced.

In February the charges for electricity supplied by the Tanzania Electric Supply Corporation to domestic users were increased by 68%, while charges for street lighting, paid for by town councils, municipalities, and districts, were raised by 233%. However, charges to industrial users were reduced. Hopes of cheaper electricity in the future were raised by the announcement that the government planned to construct a trial plant to produce methane by treating solid waste. The plant, costing $3.9 million, was to be financed by the Global Environment Facility, and if it proved successful other plants would be constructed in different parts of the country. The electricity generated would then be sold to the Tanzania Electric Supply Corporation.

As if to underscore the extent of Tanzania’s problems, on January 11 Pres. Ali Hassan Mwinyi warned of the imminent danger of famine resulting from the prolonged drought from which the country had recently suffered, a warning reiterated in April by the Agency for International Development. Then, adding to the troubles caused by nature, a man-made catastrophe occurred when the violence that had burst out in Rwanda in April caused a flood of refugees to seek sanctuary in Tanzania. Although the government officially closed the border on May 1, within a 24-hour period some 250,000 Rwandan refugees occupied a camp near Ngara in northwestern Tanzania, making it the second most densely populated area in the country. An urgent appeal was made to the international community to assist in making provision for the refugees, a task that was beyond any resources immediately available in Tanzania itself.

The limitations that poverty imposed on the country were reflected in the decision, made reluctantly in June, to withdraw the Tanzanian contingent from the peacekeeping operation in Liberia. The UN, Tanzania complained, had failed to provide the funds needed to enable the troops to carry out their task effectively.

Yet not all was gloom. In March it was announced that the petroleum company Caltex had decided to use Zanzibar as its storage centre and distribution point for oil to be sold in eastern, central, and southern Africa. This, it was hoped, would cut the cost of petroleum products, and Zanzibar also anticipated that the beneficial effect on commodity prices would make the island more attractive to investors. Soon afterward five international investment corporations announced that they intended to fund three safari lodges on the mainland. In a Cabinet reshuffle in early December, Mwinyi reappointed former prime minister Cleopa Msuya.

This updates the article Tanzania, history of.