President John Magufuli welcomes the United States ambassador to Tanzania, Mark Childress, to State House in Dar es Salaam yesterday for their long-delayed first official meeting after a seven-month wait.
State House in Dar es Salaam announced yesterday after the meeting that the United States has pledged to provide financial assistance to the country worth $800 million (over 1.7 trillion/-)
Although America remains Tanzania's biggest bilateral development partner, Magufuli had yet to host the US envoy at State House since his inauguration on November 5 last year.
On the other hand, the president has held talks with the Chinese ambassador to Tanzania, Dr Lu Youqing, on several occasions, and also hosted envoys from countries like Japan, Canada, Netherlands and Israel.
The US and China have long been seen to be competing for influence in Tanzania and elsewhere in Africa.
Magufuli's delayed meeting with the US ambassador coupled with the decision of the US government's Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) last March to cancel aid worth $470m (about 1 trillion/-) was fueling increasing speculation in diplomatic circles that ties between the two countries may be shaky.
Tanzania-US relations were strongest during President Jakaya Kikwete's administration (2005-2015), when at least three different American presidents - past and president - visited the country.
Kikwete was also invited to the White House in Washington DC on several occasions, to the point of garnering criticism from some opposition leaders about his frequent visits to the US capital.
Contacted for comment on yesterday’s meeting between Magufuli and Childress,
State House spokesman Gerson Msigwa was dismissive of suggestions that the long-standing bilateral relations between the two countries had dropped to a relatively low point during President Magufuli's leadership.
"A section of the local media misunderstood and misreported the MCC's decision (to cancel aid to Tanzania) as being that of the entire government of the United States, which is far from the truth," Msigwa told The Guardian.
"In their meeting today, the president and the US ambassador reiterated the fact that bilateral relations between our two countries are perfect," he added.
Last March, Ambassador Childress issued a statement supporting the MCC aid cancellation to Tanzania, citing as reasons the disputed election re-run in Zanzibar and the government's enforcement of the Cybercrimes Act enacted last year.
President Magufuli reacted to the unexpected aid cancellation by calling on Tanzanians to work hard to become self-reliant and do away with donor assistance which comes with strings attached.
The president has repeatedly called it shameful for the country to continue to beg for donor aid money while it remains endowed with vast natural resource wealth.
According to former assistant US secretary of state for Africa Johnnie Carson: "President Magufuli does not have any major ties with the United States.”
Speaking in January, Carson proposed that US president Barack Obama should formally invite Magufuli to the White House in an intentional bid to strengthen the ties.
According to the State House statement issued after yesterday’s talks, ambassador Childress assured President Magufuli that the new $800m pledge was a clear indication that US-Tanzania relations remain strong despite the MCC aid cancellation.
"He (Childress) has come to reassure Tanzania of financial assistance and he said that they will now release more than $800m," Magufuli was quoted as saying in the statement.
A government official told The Guardian that President Magufuli has opted to give more priority to holding talks with envoys from countries that support Tanzania's flagship infrastructure projects.
China remains the biggest financier of such projects in the country, including the planned construction of a standard gauge railway and the new Bagamoyo port project.
Japan is also supporting major transport infrastructure projects like the construction of flyovers, roads and bridges.
Following is a chronology of some past meetings between President Magufuli and foreign ambassadors at State House since he became president:
30 November 2015 - Hosted the Chinese ambassador to Tanzania, Dr Lu Youquing, at State House in Dar es Salaam.
07 December 2015 - Met with the Rwandan ambassador to Tanzania, Uegene Sagore Kayihura.
14 December 2015 – Held talks with Japan's ambassador to Tanzania, Masaharu Yoshida.
23 December 2015 - Met with Switzerland's ambassador to Tanzania, Florence Tinguelly Mattli.
19 January 2016 – Hosted Yahel Vilan, Israel's ambassador to Tanzania who is based in Kenya, at Ikulu in Dar es Salaam.
23 February 2016 - Held separate talks with the Dutch ambassador to Tanzania, Jaap Frederiks; India’s envoy Sandeep Arya; and Zambia’s ambassador Judith Kangoma Kapijimpanga at State House.
22 April 2016 - Met separately with Canada's ambassador to Tanzania, Alexandre Le've'que, and Algeria’s envoy Belabed Saada.
25 April 2016 – Held another round of talks with the Chinese ambassador to Tanzania, Dr Lu Youqing, to discuss several issues including Tanzania's plans to build a standard gauge railway.
04 June 2016 - Met again with the Chinese envoy and a delegation from the Communist Party of China (CPC).
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