Action Plan

GSD Action Plan:

As Tanzania looks to the future, making a plan for who they want to be in the international community over the coming decades, they are in an exciting, yet vulnerable position. In order for Tanzania to develop sustainably, become a global economic competitor and lead the international community in sustainable development, they must continue to build strong partnerships with members of the international community (including China), maximize their sovereignty and continue to follow the goals and projects that are currently in progress. 

First, it is important to recognize that Tanzania’s economy surrounding trade almost entirely revolves around raw exports. Many of these exports, such as rare earth metals, go to China, who manufactures the goods into products and turns a huge profit. Tanzania benefits very little as they do not profit from the Chinese manufactured goods; in fact, Tanzania is usually the one buying these products back, made using Tanzanian resources, but solely benefiting China. The best way for Tanzania to see economic improvement, job growth, and a better sense of national identity, is to move some manufacturing to Tanzania. Another opportunity created by this move is to build and engineer more sustainable manufacturing facilities and methods. China would likewise benefit from this move since emissions would go down, given that less manufacturing overall would occur. Under the idea of tragedy of the commons, Tanzania would arguably be producing the same emissions, simply in a different location, which would still contribute to overall global warming. The key factor that would combat simply maintaining similar emissions in a new location is more efficient manufacturing and sustainably-built plants.

Manufacturing would ensure Tanzania has stability and status as they climb the international ladder. Enabled to lead the sustainable development community, through projects in manufacturing, seaweed harvesting and much much more, Tanzania could break any negative parasitic ties with China. As of now, Tanzania is too economically reliant on Chinese investment to truly control their future and resources. So, beginning with manufacturing and continuing on with projects in sustainable development, these investments would be their way out. The government is ready to support this as they are already managing Chinese presence and other relative policies. Not only would Tanzania become a global leader, but they would be in an optimal position compared to a fair majority of developed nations. The United States, for example, is too reliant on fossil fuels and will struggle to transition to clean energy. Tanzania can see the big picture of what has worked and not worked for the “developed nations” of the modern era. By utilizing this information they can skip the “growing pains” of an industrial revolution.

Tanzania is in a better position because they can partner with developed nations without making the same mistakes developed nations did wasting time and money. China is a master of rapid development. So Tanzania is wise to harness this connection and utilize their Chinese partnership in order to develop rapidly with maximum success. It is necessary, however, that Tanzania reaches beyond simply their Chinese partnership. As this relationship is already so established it is difficult for other nations to “get in” with Tanzania. This is particularly challenging given that the overall local opinion is that the Western World is condescending and rude, whilst China labels them as an equal, and as an upcoming force on the international stage. There are no actual laws preventing other countries from investing. The private sector is the most efficient and effective “in” to Tanzania, and really anyone with enough money can join. It is more the social “laws” and opinions that prevent nations other than China from playing a major role in Tanzania. This is true for many African nations. China has certainly monopolized Africa effectively, to say the least.