Asked recently why Tanzania had been chosen to host a symposium on deepening democracy in Africa, UN Development Programme Resident Representative in Tanzania John Hendra was quoted in the Guardian as saying that it was chosen because of its low ranking, in terms of income per capita and the Human Development Index, and the number of achievements that Tanzania had made in moving forward in democratic governance. For example the transition to a multi-party system, the implementation of a number of government reforms, liberalisation of the media, efforts being made in the anti­corruption strategy and the home-grown and very important Muafaka in Zanzibar. The Representative went on to point out that urban poverty, particularly in Dar es Salaam, had declined from 28 % to 18% and that some of the indicators on primary education had been extremely positive. Primary enrolment had increased in the last few years more than it had in recent decades. He said that Tanzania was a model because of its sense of national ownership of its poverty alleviation policies.

Dar es Salaam has also been chosen by the IMF and the World Bank as the site of the first ever ‘Development Acceleration Regional Centre.’ This centre will be charged with the provision of locally­based technical assistance and training in the Fund’s core areas of expertise -macroeconomic policy, tax policy, revenue administration, public expenditure management, and building sound financial sectors -Sunday Observer.