Dar Essalam - The government of Tanzania is taking a dangerous course, both for the health of its citizens and its tourism recovery.
President John Magufuli early on denied that a problem existed in Tanzania, instead stating that test kits were faulty and the country was Covid free. He stopped reporting Covid deaths last April, rejected measures such as social distancing and masks, and encouraged people to congregate openly in churches and mosques to pray against the “satanic virus.” This comes from someone who has a doctorate in chemistry.
Meanwhile, neighboring Kenya, Zambia, and Uganda have taken the pandemic seriously and complain Tanzania is putting them at risk. They report that truck drivers coming from Tanzania regularly test positive at the border.
Now the president is rejecting vaccines. In a speech at the end of January, he said, “Vaccinations are dangerous. If the White man was able to come up with vaccinations, he should have found a vaccination for Aids by now; he would have found a vaccination of tuberculosis by now; he would have found a vaccination for malaria by now; he would have found a vaccination for cancer by now."
"We have lived for over one year without the virus because our God is able and Satan will always fail.”
More recently, Tanzanian Health Minister Dorothy Gwajima said the country had no intention of importing vaccines, including free doses it could get from the global Covax initiative, which aims to supply shots to poor and middle-income countries.
The World Health Organization, the Tanzanian Catholic Church and the Episcopal Conference, and opposition leaders have urged the government to follow measures other African countries have adopted. Yet even if it does, the road to recovery will be steep, and Tanzania might be at the back of a long vaccine waiting line.
Tourism Recovery Depends on Traveler Confidence
Covid denial dampens the prospect of a tourism rebound. The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in its latest travel warning on Tanzania says the country’s level of COVID-19 is “very high.”
In a survey that Serengeti Watch conducted, a majority of travelers said they would not return without specific information on safety measures. A typical comment said a precondition was, “Knowing what the government, tour operators, airports, etc. are doing to protect travelers.”
As we’ve reported, Tanzania’s economy is deeply tied to tourism. In 2019, Tanzania, tourism brought in US$ 6.6 billion and supplied 1.5 million jobs. Tanzania’s arch tourism rival, Kenya, is moving ahead with serious policies and actions. The Kenya government said it would vaccinate 1.25 million people between February and June, the first of a three-phase program.
Study: Conservation at Risk. Outside Donors Are Critical
How long it takes for tourism to return to Tanzania is a vital question for conservation.
An article in the journal Nature explains how the pandemic has created a “‘perfect storm’ of reduced conservation funding, depleted management capacity, collapse of community-based natural resource management enterprises, and elevated threats.”
The Nature article points out that even before the pandemic, there was not enough conservation funding being generated. Outside donor “contributions account for 32% of protected area funding in Africa, reaching 70–90% in some countries.” A drastic drop in tourism revenue has made the situation worse.
