Markets and Morality: American Relations with Tanzania

Abstract

Tanzania has never been high on the list of official US relationships in Africa.  And for America, this has probably not been a major problem; the two countries are economically and socially very different. Chronically poor, Tanzania has seemingly little to offer the wealthy and powerful United States. Tanzania has an annual GNP capita of $290 for its 36.5 million people, which works out to a total GNP of approximately $10.5 billion. Of the total national product, about $1 billion arrives in the form of bilateral aid, little of it directly from the United States. Tanzania also produces little that is of interest in the world marketplace. As a result the United States has few aid programs designed directly for Tanzania. Rather, embassy and USAID staff peddle the grab bag of Washington-designed economic assistance programs rooted in ideologies of market economics.