Poland in Tanzania

Historical view 

In April 1962, the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Dar es Salaam began operating. The ambassador of the United Republic of Tanzania residing in Moscow (since 1990 in Berlin) was accredited to Poland.

In 1987, the then Minister of Foreign Affairs Benjamin Mkapa paid a visit to Poland.

In the Polish-Tanzanian relations, the following international agreements have been signed until 1989:

• Convention between the President of the Republic of Poland and His Majesty, in respect of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, regarding legal proceedings in civil and commercial matters of August 26, 1931 (entered into force on May 30, 1932); 
• Treaty between the President of the Republic of Poland and His Majesty the King od Great Britain, Irealnd and the British Dominions Beyond the Seas, Emporor of India, for the surrender of fugitive criminals of January 11, 1932 (entered into force on March 12, 1934).
• Convention between the President of the Republic of Poland and His Majesty the King of Great Britain, Irealnd and the British Dominions beyond the Seas, Emporor of India for the reciprocal recognition of certificates of registry and other national documents relating the measurement of tonnage of merchant ships of April 16, 1934 (entered into force on April 20, 1935);
• Agreement between the Government of the Polish People's Republic and the Government of the United Republic of Tanzania on scientific and technical cooperation of May 15, 1965 (entered into force on the same day).

Political cooperation after 1989

Poland and Tanzania share experiences related to political and economic transformation. At the turn of October and November 1991, a special delegation from the Tanzanian Presidential Commission analysed Polish experience in implementing a multi-party system. A noteworthy fact in bilateral relations was the working visit of the Minister of State for Planning and Privatization in the Chancellery of the President of the United Republic of Tanzania, Mr Nassoro Malocho, on February 14-19, 1999 in Warsaw. N. Malocho (graduate of the Warsaw University of Technology) died in December 2002. From December 29, 1999 to January 2, 2000, a special envoy of the Minister of Foreign Affairs, ambassador ad personam Krzysztof Śliwiński went to Tanzania. The visit was devoted to the issue of conflict in the Great Lakes region and perspectives for its resolution. On November 17-18, 2003, MFA Undersecretary of State Bogusław Zaleski paid a working visit to Tanzania. He met with Foreign Minister Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete (later President of Tanzania), Deputy Minister of Trade and Industry Rita Mlaki and Deputy Minister of Agriculture Piu Mbawala. In May 2004, a member of the UN High Level Panel, Salim Ahmed Salim, stayed in Poland. In the 1980s he was Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Tanzania, and then for the next 3 terms (1989-2001) he was the Secretary General of the Organization of African Unity. On November 19-22, 2013, President Jakaya Kikwete attended the COP-19 climate summit in Warsaw. On the margins of the summit he held a courtesy conversation with President Bronisław Komorowski. On October 23-25, 2014, the Prime Minister of Tanzania, Mizengo Pinda and a delegation paid an unofficial visit to Poland (including deputy finance and foreign affairs ministers). He participated in a meeting at the Polish Chamber of Commerce with representatives of the government (Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Ministry of Economy) and business. He held meetings with representatives of Polish companies interested in cooperation with Tanzania. From April 17, 2015, Tanzania's Minister of Agriculture, Nutrition Security and Cooperatives, Stephen Masatu, stayed in Poland. He met Minister of Agriculture Marek Sawicki and participated in the European Economic Congress (EEC) 2015 in Katowice. In July 2016, Radosław Domagalski-Łabędzki, Undersecretary of State in the Ministry of Economy, was on an economic mission in Kenya and Tanzania. On September 21, 2016, on the margins of the 71st Session of the UN General Assembly, Witold Waszczykowski, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Poland, met with Augustin Mahiga, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Tanzania. In January 2017, Joanna Wronecka, Undersecretary of State at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, met with the Foreign Minister of Tanzania, A. Mahiga, on the margins of the African Union Summit in Addis Ababa. In April 2017, Pope Francis appointed Archbishop Marek Solczyński as an apostolic nuncio in Tanzania (previously he was a nuncio in Armenia). In April 2018, the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Poland, Jacek Czaputowicz, paid a visit to Tanzania and officially opened the Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Dar es Salaam. The ceremony was attended by Tanzanian Foreign Minister Augustine Mahiga, Apostolic Nuncio Archbishop Marek Solczyński and representatives of the Polish community and Polish business. During the visit, Minister J. Czaputowicz also had political consultations with Minister A. Mahiga and met with the Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of Water and Irrigation Kitila Mkumbo inaugurating bilateral cooperation in the water sector. In the same year, Tanzania was visited by the Head of the Cabinet of the President of the Republic of Poland, Minister Krzysztof Szczerski. He presented an invitation sent by President Andrzej Duda to President John Magufuli to pay a visit to Poland and held working consultations with Susan Kolimba, deputy minister of foreign affairs. Cooperation between the parliaments of both countries is also being held. In June 2015, a delegation of Tanzanian parliamentarians visited Poland. On August 11, 2015, a declaration of cooperation was also signed between the Polish-Tanzanian Parliamentary Group of the Sejm and Senate of the Republic of Poland and the Tanzanian-Polish Friendship Group of the National Assembly of the United Republic of Tanzania. 

Poland exports to Tanzania, i.a., machines and equipment, food, copper products, paper, clothes, tires and household appliances. We import coffee, tea, cocoa, tobacco, cotton products and oilseeds from Tanzania. In 2018, cashew nuts were also imported. The increase in trade was significantly influenced by the signing of the Agreement between the Government of the Republic of Poland and the Government of the United Republic of Tanzania on extending a tied aid credit on September 28, 2015, granting a loan of USD 110 mln for modernization of agriculture. It resulted in a significant increase in Polish exports to Tanzania, including agricultural machinery and their parts as well as elements of grain storage and management systems. On the basis of this agreement, Polish companies concluded contracts on the construction of agricultural machinery assembly and grain storage infrastructure. The rapid growth of tourist traffic has had a significant impact on bilateral economic cooperation. In 2018, the island of Zanzibar itself was visited by approx. 16,000 Polish tourists using seasonal direct charter flights. Tourism is followed by Polish business - currently there are a dozen Polish investments on the island in operation or under construction, and Poles are employed by the local hotel market. Tanzanian parks in the north of the country are also enjoying increasing popularity among Polish tourists: Serengeti, Ngorongoro or Mount Kilimanjaro. For more information on the economy of Tanzania, we encourage you to read the Economic Guide of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 

Links:
Ministry of Economy Economic Guide

Cultural cooperation between Poland and Tanzania takes place mostly through direct channels due to the limited network of Polish cultural institutions in Africa. However, the Polish Embassy in Dar es Salaam supports the development of cultural cooperation through implemented projects. Cultural events such as exhibitions and concerts are systematically initiated. For example, in 2018, a series of lectures by Dr. Eugeniusz Rzewuski on Polish history and Polish-Tanzanian relations was organized in Tanzania, together wit the screening of the film "Jack Strong", the exhibition "Fathers of Independence", as well as concerts of Polish jazz pianists - Piotr Orzechowski, and in 2019 - Sławomir Jaskułke. There were also two study visits to Poland for Tanzanian journalists from leading local and regional newspapers. The element of common history and culture is six cemeteries of Polish exiles from World War II located in Tanzania. Necropolies are located in Tengeru, Bigwa, Ifunda, Kidugala, Kondoa and the Kinondoni district in Dar es Salaam. These people - civilians accompanying the army formed by General Władysław Anders - reached the then Tanganyika as part of the resettlement action organized by Great Britain in its dominion. Most of them emigrated to Great Britain, the United States, Canada and Australia at the turn of the 1940s and 1950s, but those who died as a result of illness, accidents or decided to remain in Tanzania, are buried in these cemeteries. The Embassy of the Republic of Poland in Dar es Salaam has been renovating these memorial sites since its reactivation and providing them with ongoing care and maintenance.

On May 15, 1965, Poland signed a scientific and technical cooperation agreement with Tanzania. Currently, cooperation in this field is implemented only through the Ignacy Łukasiewicz Scholarship Programme. Scientific cooperation is individual and results from the activity of Polish public and private universities. In April 2018, the Maria Curie-Skłodowska University established contact with Tanzanian universities. At present, it cooperates with, among others, the Jordan’s University College in Morogoro. In Segerea, on the outskirts of Dar es Salaam, there is an Educational Center named after Saint Maximilian Kolbe led by Franciscan Fathers from Poland. In 2017, Polish assistance funds were allocated to, among others, for the construction of a vocational education center and in 2018 for a kindergarten extension to the center. 

Documents confirming education are recognized on general principles. Poland and Tanzania did not sign any bilateral agreements in this respect. For more information, please visit:

the Ministry of Science and Higher Education
Tanzania Commison for Universities (TCU)