Germany has enjoyed good relations with Tanzania since 1961 and is valued as a reliable partner. An examination of Germany’s colonial era (1885-1918) is an important issue in German-Tanzanian relations: during a visit to Tanzania at the end of 2023, the Federal President asked for forgiveness for the atrocities committed during the period. Tanzania’s economy is growing. Since 2020, it has held the status of a Lower Middle Income Country. Nevertheless, Tanzania continues to be one of the poorest countries in the world. Around 25% of the population live below the national poverty line. The volume of bilateral trade stands at approx. 300 million euro. The office of the German Chambers of Commerce Abroad in Dar es Salaam is doing valuable work to help establish businesses and networks. Tanzania’s main imports from Germany are machinery, chemical products and foodstuffs, and its main exports include drinks, tobacco, raw materials and food.

Tanzania has long been one of Germany’s most important development cooperation partners in sub-Saharan Africa. Since President Samia Hassan’s assumption of office in 2021, the underlying conditions for German-Tanzanian cooperation have improved. The focus is on biodiversity, water security, health and good governance, and particularly the advancement of women and gender equality. Germany, alongside the United States, is the largest donor to nature and environmental protection projects in Tanzania. Tanzania ratified the Paris Agreement in 2018 and submitted its first nationally determined contribution in July 2021. Since Hussein Ali Mwinyi took office as the current President of Zanzibar in 2020, cooperation with Zanzibar, too, has intensified.

The Federal Government supports the work of the German political foundations, churches and non-governmental organisations in Tanzania. Cultural cooperation with Germany is held in high regard as well. The focus here is on academic exchange, which includes cooperation between universities and the awarding of German Academic Exchange Service (DAAD) scholarships, the promotion of German as a foreign language, and numerous town twinning arrangements. Further priorities, arising from the two countries’ common history, are cultural preservation activities funded by the Federal Foreign Office and cooperation in the museum sector.