Tanzania diaspora remittances rise to $497.9m

The government is continuing to put in place a conducive environment aimed at attracting Tanzanians in the diaspora to participate in the economic development of the country. [iStockphoto]

Remittances from Tanzanians in the diaspora rose from $465.7 million in 2016 to $497.9 million in 2019, a cabinet minister said on Saturday.

"Tanzanians in the diaspora are hugely contributing to the country's economic development as the remittances keep on rising," Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation Minister Liberata Mulamula told journalists in the capital Dodoma, quoting figures released by the Bank of Tanzania. 

The government in 2010 created a special department for coordinating issues related to Tanzanians in the diaspora, said the east African nation's top diplomat. 

"The government is continuing to put in place a conducive environment aimed at attracting Tanzanians in the diaspora to participate in the economic development of the country, including creation of investment projects," said Ms Mulamula.

She said that Tanzanians in the diaspora were on the frontline of promoting the use of Kiswahili, adding that the diaspora have opened Kiswahili teaching centres in China, South Africa, Egypt, Malawi, Britain, Belgium, Comoros, the Republic of Korea and France.

Kiswahili, Tanzania's official language, is regarded as a unifying language in the country of about 60 million people.