TANZANIA APRM SENSITISATION PROJECT

The Tanzania APRM Popular Sensitisation Project (TAPS) report, published by the South African Institute of International Affairs in June 2025, provides a comprehensive civil society analysis of ten governance issues in the United Republic of Tanzania. The document evaluates the country's progress and challenges regarding the union between Tanzania Mainland and Zanzibar, constitutional reform, human rights, social protection, civic space, media freedom, youth empowerment, democratic inclusion, climate justice, and public financial management. It serves as a submission to inform the country's second Country Self-Assessment Report (CSAR) under the African Peer Review Mechanism (APRM).

• The union between Tanzania Mainland and Zanzibar is characterized by ongoing friction and debate over its structure, with some calling for a three-government system to resolve tensions regarding autonomy and representation.
• Tanzania's 1977 Constitution is viewed by civil society as unfit for purpose, having been designed for a mono-party socialist order, and the process for constitutional reform has stalled since 2014.
• Despite the existence of a Bill of Rights since 1984, human rights enforcement is hindered by the Cybercrimes Act of 2015, which uses vague terms like 'false' and 'misleading' to impose harsh penalties, including imprisonment for at least three years.
• Access to justice is severely limited for marginalized groups due to economic barriers, geographical distance to courts, and a lack of legal literacy, particularly in rural areas like Kigoma, Simiyu, and Mtwara.
• Civic space in Tanzania contracted significantly under President John Magufuli and, while President Samia Suluhu Hassan's '4Rs' initiative seeks to reverse this, reports of abductions and killings of critics continue.
• Media freedom is curtailed by the Media Services Act of 2016 and the TCRA, with instances of broadcast licenses being revoked and journalists being arrested or disappearing, such as the case of Azory Gwanda.
• Youth unemployment is a critical issue, with 77% of the population under 35 and a mismatch between educational curricula and the demands of the labor market, particularly in the digital and green economies.
• Women's political representation in Tanzania is largely dependent on a quota system; while they hold 36.9% of National Assembly seats, only 10.2% of female parliamentarians are directly elected in constituencies.
• Tanzania is highly vulnerable to climate change, losing an estimated 2% of its annual GDP to related disasters, and faces a significant funding gap, having mobilized only 3.6% of its targeted $304 million from UNFCCC mechanisms by 2020.
• Climate financing in Tanzania is heavily reliant on external debt and loans, which creates a burden of debt and may compel the government to invest in environmentally harmful sectors to meet repayment obligations.
• Public financial management is plagued by corruption and non-compliance with budgetary guidelines, with 'red flags' in public authorities reaching a record high of TZS 2,015.78 billion in 2021/22.
• Tanzania's tax-to-GDP ratio of 12.5% is the lowest in East Africa, falling below the 15% threshold identified by the World Bank and IMF as necessary to finance basic budgetary functions.

APA

South African Institute of International Affairs (2025). TANZANIA APRM SENSITISATION PROJECT. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/SAIIA_SR_TANZANIAAPRM.pdf

Chicago

South African Institute of International Affairs. TANZANIA APRM SENSITISATION PROJECT. 2025. https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/SAIIA_SR_TANZANIAAPRM.pdf.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=South African Institute of International Affairs |title=TANZANIA APRM SENSITISATION PROJECT |date=June 2025 |url=https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/SAIIA_SR_TANZANIAAPRM.pdf |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{southafricaninstituteofinternationalaffairs2025tanzania, author = {{South African Institute of International Affairs}}, title = {{TANZANIA APRM SENSITISATION PROJECT}}, institution = {South African Institute of International Affairs}, year = {2025}, month = jun, url = {https://saiia.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/SAIIA_SR_TANZANIAAPRM.pdf}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }