WHAT IS OBAMA VISIT MEAN FOR TANZANIA AND ZANZIBAR

Very soon Tanzania will line up with red Carpet to Welcome President Obama the same way hundreds of people gathered on the yards of the State House , anxiously waiting to welcome President Xi Jinping of the People's Republic of China during his two-day State Visit in Tanzania.Chinese President was here to have 100 contract signed , but Chinese President forgot to visit  the Jewel of tourism in East Africa - Zanzibar , we hope President Obama to visit the Islands of Zanzibar even for few hours. We saw Chinese delegation Zanzibar was sideline on the balcony of Hotels with Zanzibar President not the way this Zanzibar we want to be treated like any  other country in East Africa. We hope Obama will use this opportunity to increase the cooperation between Zanzibar and America. President Obama will visit Africa with 500 people delegation.

Tanzania delegation below with out Zanzibar been Represented !




The visit by Obama will mean Tanzania is emerging as East Africa’s new battleground for the two most important global powers, China and the United States.

Foreign policy analyst Dr Chris Abong’o, formerly of the University of Nairobi’s Institute of Diplomacy and International Studies, said political stability has been the key selling point of Tanzania, coupled with massive land and mineral resources that offer a foundation for future development.

Analysts said Kenya’s perceived influence is the region is waning, with countries like Tanzania and Ethiopia filling the gap.

Obama will visit Tanzania as part of his three-nation African tour from June 26 to July 3, taking him also to Senegal and South Africa. He will be seeking to demonstrate his support for Tanzania’s smooth political transitions.

Obama will also be seeking to enlist Tanzania more closely in the fight against terrorism, with analysts predicting an increase in military assistance. But the 500-strong business delegation that will accompany Obama indicates that the trip will be heavily tilted towards opening the market to the US corporate sector.
In March, Chinese President Xi Jinping visited Tanzania in the course of his first African visit, during which deals worth $800 million were signed, including construction of a new port at Bagamoyo.

China is also financing a gas pipeline with a $1.2 billion loan and has also loaned the country $123 million to construct a 300MW wind energy plant in the central region of Singida.
What is US President Barack Obama’s interest in Tanzania?

The two visits will raise Tanzania’s geopolitical profile in the region as it takes advantage of the travails of its northern neighbour Kenya, which has been engulfed in destructive internal politics that nearly led to a civil war after the 2007 General Election.

This is the question analysts are asking following the announcement by Washington that Tanzania will be part of Obama’s one-week visit to Africa later this month.

America’s growing interest in Tanzania has not been lost on observers as it has been a destination for some of Obama’s senior-most officials.

A delegation of US energy executives travelled to Tanzania last year on a prospecting tour led by Johnnie Carson, who was then the top Africa diplomat in the Obama administration. Mr Carson was effusive in his praise for Tanzania prior to the visit later in 2012 by then-secretary of state Hillary Clinton.

Tanzania diplomats attending the just ended African Union Summit in Addis Ababa disclosed to The EastAfrican that energy investments will be a key agenda during President Obama’s visit in July, as the US seeks a piece of the oil and gas boom in East Africa, balancing off China’s growing participation in the sector.

In addition to energy, they argued, Tanzania will showcase the social infrastructure investments made with the first tranche of the $689.1 million Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC) fund, seeking to qualify for the second tranche.

Diplomats seeking anonymity because President Jakaya Kikwete in an interview with The EastAfrican had earlier declined to divulge the agenda of the meeting with Obama, said the a new tranche from the MCC will come in handy as the country faces financing shortfalls for infrastructure.

Daniel Yohannes, the director of the MCC, praised Tanzania’s performance during a visit in April to Zanzibar, Tanga and Dodoma to view development projects funded through his agency’s single-largest aid allotment.

“Through the leadership of the Tanzanian government, we see a steady commitment to reforming policies and institutions for sustainability,” Mr Yohannes said in Dodoma. “We see a growing willingness to create enabling conditions for more private companies and entrepreneurs to be the engines of growth and job creation.”

MCC is a US initiative that rewards countries that are committed to and promote democracy and good governance. Tanzania is facing challenges in financing construction of gas pipelines and related infrastructure that would enable it to use gas by-products like fertiliser urea.

The country’s electricity distribution system is under severe strain because of under-investment, leading to power system losses and regular blackouts.

Kikwete shrugged off the question on issues that will be on the table with the US delegation, saying only, “I don’t know.”