Donor Political Conditionality and Its Impact on Sovereignty: A Case Study of Tanzania

Donors consider Tanzania a model country because of the way it has taken ownership of the development agenda as per the Paris Declaration of 2005. Since Tanzania is so heavily dependent on aid, it is worth exploring if Tanzania’s dependency does not negate its sovereignty and allows it to retain space for genuine ownership. This dissertation examines the impact of donor conditionalities on Tanzania’s sovereignty and investigates the strategies used by Tanzania to manage aid and its outcomes, both historically and up to the present day. The dissertation met these aims through an extensive study of the relevant literature, which produced a number of key findings. The main conclusions drawn were that the beginning of Tanzania’s independence was the sole period in which Tanzania was able to fully exercise her sovereignty. Under the leadership of Mwalimu Nyerere, Tanzania was able to determine her own policies with minimal foreign interference. However a precipitous decline in the economy meant Tanzania had to acquiesce to donor demands, which included conditionalities that Tanzania considered an infringement of her sovereignty. On-going dependence on aid meant that Tanzania’s policy space shrank even further. Some strategies that Tanzania employed to manage the outcomes of reforms included non-implementation and backsliding. However these strategies were a form of futile resistance rather than an assertion of sovereignty. Emerging donors such as China and India have provided alternatives for donor funds. Although Tanzania’s dependence on external assistance remains high, the current regime has a fairly positive relationship with all its donors and has been able to direct funding to its own priority areas. This may signal increasing confidence on Tanzania’s part and the restoration, in part, of Tanzania’s sovereignty.