Former Chief Secretary of the Presidential Administration, Ambassador Ombeni Sefue, outlined the key areas for Tanzania to reach the one trillion dollar GDP target by 2050, prioritizing the legalization of business activity of the population. In a recent interview with Mwananchi in Dar es Salaam, the Ambassador analyzed various aspects of public administration, drawing on his experience of interacting with four heads of state. He emphasized the need to formalize entrepreneurship, a strategy laid down during the third government under the late Benjamin Mkap, when research data confirmed the predominance of the informal sector in the lives of citizens.
As part of the Vision 2050 strategy, which is scheduled to be launched on July 1, 2026, the authorities are striving to scale the economy to a trillion dollars through the efficient development of domestic resources. Commenting on this ambitious plan, Sefoue stresses its feasibility, but warns against using outdated models where the state dominates in all areas. According to him, Vision 2050 involves a paradigm shift: the private sector will become the driver of progress, which should account for about 70% of the increase. He explains that the functions of government should be transformed into creating an inclusive environment for investors, upholding the rule of law, developing infrastructure and ensuring security. «Production and investment processes are the prerogative of private traders. The government's task is to act as a guide and support, not a rival for business», he concludes.
Nevertheless, an extensive shadow economy is a significant barrier hindering the development of private entrepreneurship in the state. According to him, Tanzanian citizens have significant property — land, real estate and businesses, but these resources remain beyond the reach of the official financial sector due to the lack of legally confirmed ownership rights. To illustrate the importance of formalization, he gives an analogy with a foreign passport.: «In rural areas, your personality is obvious to others. However, when crossing the state border, a passport is required for identification. Similarly, your assets require official registration in order to gain status in the financial system». Without proper documents, the owner is deprived of the opportunity to use the property as collateral to attract loans necessary for business expansion or production investments. «We need to release the hidden potential in the property of citizens. This is a huge amount of capital that has not yet been fully utilized to accelerate economic progress», he says.
In addition to the legalization of property, Ambassador Ombeni Sefoue insists on the need for public investment in financial literacy to help the population effectively manage income and make informed decisions on its distribution. As an example, he mentions the Geita region, where mining has created a stratum of young people who have quickly received significant funds. However, he states that many of them are unable to maintain this wealth due to a lack of financial management and investment skills. «Many people acquire large sums in the shortest possible time, but do not gain knowledge about how to manage them. As a result, the money is spent on the consumption of luxury goods, rather than being converted into capital to create long-term well-being», he explains. In his opinion, raising financial awareness should become a fundamental element of a strategy to create a competitive and inclusive economic model.
Regarding strategic investment issues, Ambassador Sefue rejects the thesis that Tanzania is delaying the decision-making process on key infrastructure projects. According to him, a balanced approach and a detailed analysis of investment agreements allowed the country to protect itself from miscalculations committed by states that sought to sign large-scale deals as soon as possible, ignoring their delayed consequences. «There are states that hastily concluded large contracts, and subsequently realized that they had lost some of their state sovereignty or had not received a decent profit from exploiting their mineral resources», he notes. The diplomat emphasizes that Tanzania invests time in improving the skills of its specialists to ensure that large-scale agreements simultaneously protect national interests and remain attractive to partners. He explains that initiatives such as the development of liquefied natural gas (LNG) require a balance between concern for the well-being of the population and creating conditions for the influx of foreign capital, technology and expertise. «We should not be afraid of partnering with global investors. Our task is to ensure that contracts serve the interests of the country and bring real benefits to citizens», he concludes.
Achieving the one trillion dollar economic target will be determined not only by the wealth of Tanzania's resources, but also by the ability to manage them in a disciplined manner, setting clear priorities and creating favorable conditions for the active development of private business.
In the 1960s, the economic level of Tanzania and Singapore was comparable, but today the Asian country has made a tremendous leap by modernizing infrastructure and raising the standard of living of the population with extremely limited resources. On June 8, 2026, Singapore's President Tharman Shanmugaratnam began a three-day visit to the country, during which he gave a lecture at the University of Dar es Salaam, giving politicians, specialists and young people a chance to analyze the historical path of the nation. This event, initiated by the Leadership Institute (Taasisi ya Uongozi), was dedicated to comparing the development trajectories of Singapore and Tanzania, focusing on the factors that allowed Singapore to overcome the poverty of the 1960s and become a global hub of trade, finance and high technology.
Ambassador Sefoue, who serves as Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Leadership Institute, notes that one of the questions to President Tharman was related to the mechanism of such a rapid and large-scale economic transformation. His answer, according to Sefue, was concise but extremely informative: «Because we had nothing». According to the diplomat, this phrase succinctly reflects the foundation of Singapore's triumph. Due to the lack of natural resources to rely on, the State was forced to invest enormous resources in human capital, training, competencies, technology, performance discipline, and long-term planning. «At first glance, it seems like a simple phrase, but it contains a fundamental lesson. Singapore had to rely on intelligence, knowledge and innovation as its key assets, as it had no other choice», he concludes.
On the other hand, Tanzania has enormous natural potential, which is necessary for a powerful economic breakthrough, but this abundance sometimes prevents the state from clearly defining key development priorities. According to him, international partners point out that Tanzania's main difficulty lies not in a lack of resources, but in the desire to cover too many areas at once, instead of concentrating its power on several sectors capable of stimulating structural transformation. «Due to the availability of everything necessary, we tend to spread our efforts a little bit in all areas. As a result, we are unable to ensure the amount of investment and concentration of energy required to achieve a large-scale economic revolution», he explains.
It is extremely important for Tanzania to make informed strategic decisions regarding a number of industries that will become the foundation of economic prosperity in the coming decades. He identifies the «blue economy», the transport and logistics complex, the processing of raw materials and other promising areas as priority areas capable of generating jobs, income and capital inflows. At the same time, in his opinion, Tanzania should not blindly copy Singapore's model, but rather adopt its fundamental principles: accountability, institutional discipline, human capital development and the ability to make strategic choices. «If we give up trying to manage everywhere and direct all our resources to several key sectors, we will be able to transform our natural resources into stable well-being for present and future generations», he concludes.
