DAR ES SALAAM: FOR over six decades, Tanzania and Japan have fostered a remarkable partnership, collaborating across diverse fields.
Through mutual dedication and shared vision, the two nations have not only established but also nurtured deep and resilient cooperation in business, culture and sustainable development.
These enduring ties continue to flourish, further strengthening the bond between Japan and Tanzania, creating a legacy of trust and shared prosperity.
In this interview with DAILY NEWS Senior Journalist FLORENCE MUGARULA, the Japanese Ambassador to Tanzania, H.E Misawa Yashushi discusses the current relationship, growth of trade and improvement of economic relations between the two countries. Excerpts…
What is the current relationship between Tanzania and Japan?
Japan and Tanzania have fostered the friendly relationship since the first days of the independence of the United Republic of Tanzania. I am convinced that the close partnership will continue to grow further.
In the amazing history of our bilateral relations, I look forward to next year being a monumental one. Japan will host Expo 2025, which will be held in Osaka, the second largest city in Japan. May 25th next year will be designated as Tanzania Day at the World Expo.
Working closely with the Tanzanian Embassy in Japan and Tantrade, we will do our best to make the Expo great success for both countries. Another milestone next year will be TICAD, the Tokyo International Conference on African Development, the history of which can be traced back to 1993.
It is a unique platform for African countries, Japan as well as the international organisation such as United Nations, World Bank and UNDP to come together and to foster mutually beneficial relations.
With its outstanding principles of African ‘ownership’ and international ‘partnership’, I hope that the significance of the 9th TICAD will be appreciated more than ever.
I would be very grateful if both Expo and TICAD would be celebrated by the high-level visit from the Government of Tanzania.
If I can mention one of the most memorable events this year for Tanzania and Japan, it is the sister city agreement between Dodoma and Nagai City in Yamagata, Japan.
The agreement was signed on Nagai City’s 70th anniversary celebration on October 14. Although there has been grassroots interaction between Tanzania and Yamagata for more than 25 years, they started more active exchanges in 2016 when Nagai City was registered as a host town for Tanzania athletes for the Tokyo Olympic and Paralympics.
I am excited to see how the friendship between the two cities will continue to grow in the future.
Tanzania is one of recipients of donors’ support, and now JICA has been active for 62 years in Tanzania, in which areas has Japan been supporting Tanzania and how do you assess the Japan Internation Agency’s (JICA) achievements in bringing positive changes to the people?
Looking back at our history, Japan has supported many symbolic projects, including the development of the Lower Moshi Irrigation Scheme, the construction of the Mfugale Flyover and the development of Malindi Fish Landing and Marketing facilities at the request of the government of Tanzania.
Some Tanzanians may have the impression that Japan has focused on infrastructure development projects, but this is not the only area in which we are working.
While the Japanese government’s foreign aid strategy is formulated by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, most concrete projects are planned and implemented by JICA.
The JICA office in Tanzania is one of the largest JICA offices on the African continent and they work very closely with the government of Tanzania and its people.
JICA is engaged with a wide range of activities such as agriculture, blue economy, industrial development, health care, local governance, empowerment of women and all kinds of capacity building.
Some of these activities include dispatching of Japan Overseas Cooperation Volunteers to teach students, support hospitals and collaborate with local communities. Since the first batch of volunteers in 1965, more than 1,679 volunteers have dedicated themselves to the development of Tanzania.
Moreover, agriculture is a field where Japan has actively supported Tanzania in its development. Rice production in particular has great potential in Tanzania and Japan, which is proud of its domestic rice production, can offer valuable expertise to further strengthen the production in Tanzania.
For more than 40 years, JICA has successfully provided different types of technical assistance in rice cultivation, implemented irrigation projects in villages across Tanzania and supported the monetisation of agriculture to increase farmers’ incomes.
Going forward, we are planning to support the development of agriculture financing so that small and medium-scale farmers in Tanzania can advance mechanisation.
Furthermore, I would like to introduce ‘Ladies First’, a national athletic competition for female athletes in Tanzania, which is held at Benjamin Mkapa stadium. This unique event, inspired by initiative of Mr Juma Ikangaa, a former Tanzanian Olympian, is organised by JICA Tanzania office along with the National Sport Council of Tanzania, having the support of various stakeholders within and outside Tanzania.
I believe this could be a wonderful chance for girls who are keen to develop their potential just as much as boys.
It was very good news for me to hear that of participants in last year’s ‘Ladies First’ took part in the track and field competition at this year’s Paris Olympics.
‘Ladies First’ in 2024 will be held on from November 23 to November 24, this year at Benjamin Mkapa Stadium. I hope that many Tanzanians will enjoy seeing the highest-level competition of Tanzania female athletes there.
While major development projects of our government are planned and conducted by JICA, the Embassy has conducted many small-scale projects which directly benefit the grassroots communities such as construction of school buildings, dormitories, and toilets as well as establishment of clinics and dispensaries in the local areas. Since 1989, the Embassy has implemented nearly 400 projects under the scheme of Grant Assistance for Grassroots Human Security Projects.
Last month I participated in the handing-over ceremony of toilets and water tank of Mzumuni Secondary School in Kinondoni District, Dar es Salaam. And last week I traveled to Mwanza Region to celebrate the handing-over of the reproductive and child health building at Sumve Designated District Hospital in Kwimba District. The Embassy hopes to continue its cooperation at the grassroots level in the future.
Tanzania and Japan have been cooperating in various areas, what is the status of economic and trade relations between the two countries? Please tell us the current data such as trade volume and prospects.
Japan and Tanzania have had a long history of economic exchange.
I mentioned earlier that the World Expo will be held in Osaka next year, but this will not be the first time Osaka has hosted the World Expo.
The first Osaka World Expo was held in 1970, when I was a little child. The 1970 world Expo was also the first World Expo that Tanzania participated in.
I believe this was Tanzania’s first appearance on the glamorous international economic stage shortly after independence.
Since then, economic relations between Tanzania and Japan have developed. Looking at the current trade relationship, Japan is Tanzania’s fifth largest import partner. Japan exported 464 million USD (about 1.235tri/-) to Tanzania in 2022.
The top product is, as expected, cars, followed by hot rolled iron and delivery trucks.
On the other hand, Japan is Tanzania’s 20th largest export destination, and Japan is its top export destination for coffee.
It also exports large amounts of sesame seeds and tobacco.
In 2022, Tanzania exported 146 million USD (about 388.6bn/-) to Japan. From 2017 to 2022, Tanzania’s exports to Japan increased at an annual rate of 1.59 per cent.
In terms of investment, there are several major Japanese companies operating in Tanzania.
In the 1960s, shortly after Tanzania gained independence, Konosuke Matsushita, the founder of Panasonic, opened a transistor radio factory to promote manufacturing in Tanzania and later began manufacturing dry batteries.
I think that many older people in Tanzania are familiar with transistor radios and dry cell batteries made by “National”, the old name for Panasonic. Unfortunately, Panasonic was forced to cease operations six years ago due to the influx of cheap illegal imports and counterfeit goods into the Tanzanian market.
Although there are still some Japanese companies active in Tanzania, such as the Tanzania Cigarette Company, TCC, Japan’s presence is not very large.
However, we highly appreciate the efforts currently being made by the Tanzanian government under the strong leadership of President Samia Suluhu Hassan to foster a disciplined market and improve a business-friendly investment environment.
And we hope that because of these efforts, more Japanese companies will establish a presence in Tanzanian market and cooperate with many Tanzanian companies.
As I mentioned at the beginning, next year Japan will host the World Expo and TICAD, and a large economic mission from Japan is also scheduled to visit Tanzania in next January.
I hope that next year will be a great leap forward in economic relations between Japan and Tanzania.
How does Japan support education, health programmes to Tanzania students?
As I mentioned before, Japan has dispatched a lot of volunteers through JICA. Most of them are engaged with education, health care and community development areas.
In the education sector, many elementary and secondary school teachers, especially in science and mathematics have been dispatched.
Some of the readers may have had experiences to be taught by Japanese teachers. When I came to Tanzania and paid a courtesy call to Dr Doto Mashaka Biteko, he talked about his memories of being taught by Japanese teachers at school.
Japanese teachers are still being dispatched to schools all over Tanzania. As long as there is a request from Tanzania, we would like to continue to send teachers.
In the field of higher education, Japan has been accepting international students from Tanzania for a long time.
The Japanese Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology offers scholarships, so called MEXT scholarship, for Tanzanian students to study at Japanese universities.
The scholarship is available for both undergraduate and postgraduate studies. For example, Minister of Defence and National Service, Dr Stargomena Tax, received her master’s and doctoral degrees from the University of Tsukuba as a recipient of a scholarship.
Students who wish to contribute to the field of medicine have been also selected each year to gain cutting-edge expertise in Japan.
For the academic year of 2024, a total of 10 new students have received MEXT scholarships to study in Japan, of which 6 students are medical students.
In addition to the MEXT government scholarships, many Tanzanians have been invited to Japan to study at universities or to participate in JICA training courses.
I joined the send-off reception hosted by JICA this year. 16 Tanzanian were sent to Japan for various training courses and master’ s degree.
We believe that they have brought back excellent skills in their professional fields, as well as good personal experiences and memories from Japan, and have assumed important roles in Tanzanian society.
Another outstanding case of Japan’s contribution to Tanzanian education is its support for the Sakura Girls’ Secondary School in Arusha.
The school was established in 2016 through the remarkable initiative of two powerful women, the late Ms Frida Tomito from Arusha, and the late Prof Sumiko Iwao, an emeritus professor at Keio University in Tokyo.
Built with both public and private support from Japan, Sakura Girls Secondary School is unique in its educational philosophy and methodology, focusing on STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) education for girls, which has resulted in supporting girls to pursue their dreams of becoming science professionals, including medical doctors.
Their efforts have resulted in one of the highest scores in the national Form Four examination.
They also offer ‘Japanese culture class as O special curriculum and the girls there enjoy learning about different cultures and broadening their horizons.
I believe these girls will be the future leaders of Tanzania and represent the friendship between Tanzania and Japan.
Tanzania like other countries in the World has been experiencing the influx of counterfeit and substandard products, some of these products are brought in from developed countries, what is your take on the situation and what is your advice on the control of the problem?
The prevalence of counterfeit, substandard, mislabeled, and undervalued products is a huge loss for both genuine manufacturers and the people of Tanzania.
First, it is unfortunate that Tanzanian consumers are caught with fakes, paying their hard-earned money.
These faked products are priced slightly lower than the genuine products and they are designed to be difficult for ordinary people to distinguish from the genuine products. For example, in some stores in Tanzania, products that look the same as Japanese outboard motors are openly sold at fairly high prices.
However, if you could see the inside of them, they are completely different products. Consumers often lose money without even realising it.
They may realise that the products they buy are fake when they accidentally take them to a genuine dealer for repair.
Secondly, genuine manufacturers lose profits because the existence of cheap counterfeits prevents them from selling their genuine products.
However, what is even more problematic is that the reputation of genuine products is damaged when people mistake low-quality counterfeits for genuine products.
In a market where good quality products are not properly valued and sold at a fair price, no one would want to manufacture good quality products.
The reason why Tanzania’s manufacturing industry has not developed is largely due to the culture of putting up with “cheap, bad products” in Tanzania
To improve this situation, the Tanzanian government’s first task is not only to establish appropriate standards, but also to ensure that those standards are thoroughly implemented and enforced.
Even if standards are established in Tanzania, there are often no systems or structures in place to enforce them.
That situation should be changed. At the same time, it is important that all Tanzanian consumers have the will and ability to judge the quality of products.
In Japan, there is a proverb that says, ‘buying cheap goods is waste of money/You get what you pay for”.
I would like people to think that buying a reliable product made by a reliable manufacturer, even if it is a little more expensive, because that is more profitable in the medium to long term than buying a cheap product that breaks easily.
Until such thinking takes root in society, it will be impossible to stop the proliferation of counterfeit and other such products, and I think it will also hinder the development of Tanzania’s manufacturing industry.
If the government of Tanzania is willing to work on reforming the countermeasures against fake products and raising people’s awareness in this regard, Japan is ready to cooperate in any way possible.
As a diplomat, how do you assess the performance of President Samia Suluhu Hassan’ s government.
As a diplomat, I would like to refrain making any light-hearted comment about the leader of the country in which I am assigned.
However, I personally respect and applaud the strong leadership of H.E. Samia Suluhu Hassan, President of the United Republic of Tanzania, to promote 4R policy, because I believe that the concept of the 4R (Reconciliation, Resilience, Reforms and Rebuilding) policy is something that should be valued not only in Tanzania but also in every country in the world It is an idea that should be also respected in Japan as well.
I also acknowledge the importance of this month’s local elections and next year’s general elections for democracy of this country. I am looking forward to seeing the fair and peaceful elections lead by her 4R policy.
