Despite its economic growth rates, Tanzania is one of the poorest countries in the world. The GDP per capita was $ 3,240 in 2017. In the UNDP Human Development Index, Tanzania ranks in the bottom sixth (as of 2019: 159th place out of 189 countries recorded). For many Tanzanians, life is a daily struggle. The official unemployment rate is officially given at around 13 percent, but is likely to be significantly higher. The median monthly income was $ 76 in 2017, compared to official development assistance of $ 40 per capita.

With a gross domestic product share of 46 percent, Tanzania's economy largely depends on the performance of the agricultural sector. More than 75% of the workforce is employed in agriculture. In Tanzania, subsistence farming is predominantly practiced. The most important export goods from Tanzania include products such as coffee, cotton, sisal, tobacco and tea, but above all rubber and cloves. The development in terms of agricultural export production is basically on the right track, but raw products are still predominantly exported. The processing, which would bring a significantly higher profit margin, is still left to other countries due to a lack of capital, capacities and trained specialists. It is therefore imperative to diversify the range of exports and sources of foreign currency. The industry in Tanzania is minor and limited to the food industry and petroleum refineries.

For several years, Tanzania has been convincing with consistently high economic growth rates. In 2019, the growth of the real gross domestic product in Tanzania was estimated at around 7 percent compared to the previous year. However, these figures hide the fact that 90% of the population does not participate in overall economic growth. Poverty is and will remain the central issue, especially in rural areas - two thirds of Tanzanians live on less than USD 1.25 a day. Inadequate education and training, a lack of knowledge about the two major health scourges of the country, malaria and AIDS, as well as the increasing population pressure with constantly decreasing land and yields go hand in hand with poverty.

In recent years, waves of price increases have also hit the country, affecting all areas of daily life. Prices are exploding, regardless of whether for staple foods such as rice, corn or flour, for gasoline / diesel, electricity, cement or wood. The rise in prices for everyday goods in particular has a dramatic effect on people's living conditions.

The strengthened private sector in the cities must not hide the fact that little has happened at the institutional and political level. Anyone who has a company in the service industry complains about the poorly trained employees and their lack of motivation. Others are troubled by the heavy dependence on imports. Since nothing is produced in-house, everything from computers to vehicles, fuels and clothing to furniture, crockery and books has to be imported. Customs duties, harassment on imports and other import barriers make small and medium-sized businesses particularly susceptible to arbitrariness by the authorities. The World Bank ranks Tanzania 141st out of 189 countries (as of 2019) when it comes to the favorable climate for opening a business. Criticisms include excessive bureaucracy and corruption, difficulties in acquiring land and real estate or in obtaining building permits, problems in the power supply, with imports and exports and high tariffs.

All these reasons make investments interesting only for those investors for whom money does not matter and who have the crucial connections. These include mining, large Arab or Indian hotel and construction projects or the telecommunications industry. All the sectors mentioned face the same challenges: Investments are extremely capital-intensive, while they create comparatively few jobs. Only a few benefit, including corrupt politicians, domestic industrialists and foreign donors.

The situation is similar with development aid and foreign financial aid. A large part of international development cooperation in Tanzania is concentrated on the health sector, with over a third. Further areas are the expansion of infrastructure and educational institutions. Besides Germany, Tanzania's most important bilateral partners are the USA, Great Britain, Japan and the Scandinavian countries, especially Sweden and Denmark. Furthermore, as an increasingly important player, China has become a close partner for Tanzania. Above all in the areas of infrastructure, in the health and education sector as well as in military support, the People's Republic has made numerous investments and is therefore valued by the Tanzanian government as a business partner. However, the role of China in Tanzania's development is controversial: allegations of corruption and the exploitation of Tanzania's natural resources are recurring criticisms of China's Tanzania policy.

Corruption is one of the greatest obstacles to the country's development. It ranks 96th out of 198 places on Transparency International's corruption index (as of 2019). Whether in business, politics or even in the private sphere: it is terrorizing and paralyzing the country. It may not come as a surprise that politicians are diverting money from development projects. But also business people have to bribe in order to be able to import the goods, to obtain residence permits and business licenses or to register a vehicle. Corrupt police officers harass locals and foreigners in daily traffic. With money you can bend the judiciary, fake your son's university degree or buy adequate hospital treatment.

The infrastructure is just as problematic. The electricity capacities are inadequate, as is the water supply. A little improvement can be seen in road construction, where many long-announced or idle road construction projects have been pushed forward in recent years. A modern railway line is currently being built between Dar es Salaam and Dodoma. Still, transportation is nowhere near as efficient as it should be for a country with such growth rates.

Despite all the euphoria about the upturn, sustainability remains open. Economic performance is geared towards maximizing profit, which is not the exception for either large investors or medium-sized young entrepreneurs. Investments must pay for themselves immediately; When it comes to payback periods for construction projects such as in the west of 20-25 years or longer, Tanzanians can only smile mildly. Local entrepreneurs pay their employees even lower salaries than expats and rarely invest in employee training. Little business knowledge is compensated by high sales prices; There is little awareness of quality, customer friendliness or even ecological considerations.

It is difficult to quantify the informal sector, which dominates economic life in both rural and urban areas and is deeply culturally rooted. Almost the entire basic supply of the population is based on informal economic performance, regardless of whether it is from the fishermen next door or the tomato seller from the street.