The emergence of China as a major industrial giant in the present millennium has provoked tremendous interest and triggered a sense of apprehension among leading global powers, especially theUnited Statesand Western European nations.China's ascendance in Africa is new, but not inTanzania, where it has been operating in many sectors since the 1960s, as one of the most trusted and reliable development partners.

Tanzaniahas enjoyed a special relationship with China, largely as a result of the great bond created during the Cold War, when the two countries were regarded by the capitalist West as socialist and communist bastions. The emerging consensus in Tanzania seems to suggest that China has boosted the fortunes of many people by extending soft loans and fair lending terms that would not have been possible under the IMF and World Bank in the past five decades. Many import-export businesses are thriving and Dar es Salaam Port has increasing arrivals and departures to and from China. It's interesting to note that one of the peculiar characteristics of engagement is the primacy of global geopolitics versus national economic interests, in influencing and shaping the political, socio-cultural and economic interaction between China and Tanzania.

China appears to have good intentions forTanzania, going by the quality of development that is taking place in the country with Chinese assistance. All these influences were used to shape the kind of development we see in Tanzania today. China's interests inTanzaniaare diverse. It has moved into areas of oil and mineral exploration in the country, as well as agricultural development. At present, China is involved in the construction of over 20 major official road improvements in Tanzania.

From the 1980s, Chinese presidents have visited Africa more than Western presidents and prime ministers combined. During his 10-year rule, former President Hu Jintao visited over 20 African countries, including giant regional players such asSouth Africa, Tanzania, Kenya and Nigeria, to the smaller players such as Mali, Mauritius, Namibia and Cameroon. This is different from the approach of U.S.presidents, who only visit demonstrated democracies. In 2013, Xi Jinping made his first overseas trip to Africa as China's new president, making it clear that the continent was the number one priority forChina, and as expected, Tanzania was among the countries that he visited. This indicated to the world the special placeTanzaniaholds in the minds of China's leadership.

The Tanzania-Zambia (Tazara) Railway is perhaps one of the most successful and single-most transformative investment projects by China inTanzania and Zambia, and consequently the infrastructure development inTanzaniatoday owes a lot to China's focus on Africa. Coupled to this isTanzania being one of the nations that has achieved the highest level of integration and cohesion in Africa. This is mainly due to the fact that the country has never experienced major political instability, which scholars attribute to the ethos and values of Ujamaa ideology. [Ujamaa, the Swahili for "familyhood," was the social and economic policy developed by Mwalimu Julius Nyerere, the founding father of Tanzania. - Editor] What many observers have noted is the shared similarity in terms of reverence for Nyerere, in many ways is similar to Mao Zedong in China.

The revolutionary treatise, called The Great Leap Forward by Mao, has often been compared to The Arusha Declaration of Tanzania by Nyerere, which placed Tanzania on a great socialist development pedestal. Nyerere enjoyed special relations with Mao. The success of the Communist Party of China encouraged young revolutionaries in Tanzania such as Nyerere, who went on to create his own philosophy of development, known as Ujamaa. Ujamaa was a hybrid of sorts, influenced by Nyerere's Catholic upbringing of hard work and consideration for the needy, along with Karl Marx and the twin Marxist ideologies of socialism and communism. Nyerere was also influenced by Mao's Great Leap Forward as well as other socialist revolutionaries, such as Argentine Che Guevara.

Chinaunder stands that its success inTanzania, and Africa as a whole, will be determined by its ability to persuade Tanzania that China is not going to be an exploiter, but a dependable development partner, operating under mutual respect.Chinastood byTanzaniaduring the Cold War and during the tough times of Structural Adjustment Program (SAP) and many inTanzania associate more freely with the Asian giant than with Western powers. They see in Chinaa friend who has a similar past, embedded in socialist ideals and policies that promote the interests of the ordinary person. This augurs well to a meaningful relationship for the next 50 years.

(Source: ChinAfrica)