In January, 2016, just months in power, President Magufuli launched universal access to free primary and secondary school education (up to form four), with a total funding in the last five years totaling Tsh1.01 trillion.

The number of primary schools increased from 16,899 in 2015 to 17,804 in 2020; and secondary schools from 4,708 in 2015 to 5,330 in 2020. Also, 73 out of 89 secondary schools were renovated, 253 dormitories and 227 laboratories constructed.

The government also provided 2, 956 laboratory equipment and increased desks from 3,024, 311 in 2015 up to 8,095,207, a 200 per cent increase.

About 18 teacher training institutions have been renovated, and another two – Murutunguru and Kabanga – have been constructed. Vocational training institutions (VETA) have been increased from 672 in 2015 to 712 in 2020, while 54 Folk Development Colleges (FDC) have been renovated.

The government has also constructed additional hostels, counselling halls, dining halls, and libraries in public universities. Higher education loans budget has also been increased from Tsh348.7 billion to Tsh450 billion in 2019/20 financial year.

These measures have seen enrolments in Grade one increase two-fold from 1 million pupils in 2015 to 1.6 million in 2020. The number of students enrolled in Form One up to Form Four has also increased from 1,648,359 in 2015 to 2,185,037 in 2020. The number of students enrolled in VETA have increased from 117,067 in 2015 up to 226,767 in 2020. Students in FDC have also increased from 6,693 in 2016/17 up to 9,736 in 2018/19. Enrolments to universities have increased from 65,064 in 2015 to 87,813 in 2020; and access to higher education loans has increased from 98,300 students in 2014/15 to 130,883 in 2019/20.

On healthcare delivery, the government has constructed 1,769 new health facilities, among them: 1,198 clinics, 487 health centers, 71 district hospitals (since independence they were only 77), 10 regional referral hospitals – including Mwalimu Nyerere Memorial Hospital whose construction had halted since 1970. The government has also established Level III referral hospitals increasing Health facilities from 7,014 in 2015 to 8,783 in 2020.

About 14,479 new healthcare workers have been employed, among them 1000 newly-employed doctors. This has increased the number of medical personnel from 86,152 in 2015 to 100,631 in 2020. The government has streamlined access to medicines, diagnostic equipment with an increased budgetary allocation from Tsh31 billion in 2015 to Tsh270 billion in 2020. The government has also bought and distributed 117 ambulances across the country. The government has trained 301 specialist doctors including, cardiologists, ENT surgeons, gynecologists, neurosurgeons, oncologists, and others.

Tanzania today is slowly accelerating into a regional health hub as specialist treatments such as heart surgery, kidney transplants, cochlear implants are attracting patients from countries like Kenya, Uganda, Rwanda, Zambia, Malawi, DRC, Burundi and the Comoros, decreasing costs of medical tourism.

Multi sectorial development approach

To increase the access to water services, 1,423 water projects have been implemented, of which 1268 are in villages and 155 are in urban areas.

Among the big projects is the harnessing of water from Lake Vitoria to Nzega, Tabora and Igunga; and the Arusha water project and the distribution of water to 28 towns, worth Tsh1.2 trillion. Access to clean and safe drinking water in villages has increased from 47 per cent in 2015 to 70.1 per cent in June, 2020; and from 74 per cent to 84 per cent in urban areas.

Telecommunication services have also improved from 79 per cent in 2015 to 94 per cent in December 2019. The number of mobile phone users and internet users has also doubled as a result of reduction in calling rate from Tsh267 per minute in 2015 to Tsh40 per minute in 2020.

The government has also revived Tanzania Telecommunications Company (TTCL) owning it by 100 per cent and increased its shareholding at Airtel from 40 per cent to 49 per cent after resolving a shareholding row.

Various energy generation and distribution projects have also been implemented in the last five years including the 240 megawatts Kinyerezi II gas turbine and the on-going 185 megawatts Kinyerezi-1 Extension project. Magufuli is also defying all odds to implement the USD 2.9 billion Julius Nyerere Hydropower Project in the Selous.

Upon completion in June, 2022, the 2,115 megawatt project through own government funding will be the fourth largest dam in Africa.

The government has also constructed 3,500 kilometers of roads, increasing the length of tarmac roads to 12, 964 kilometers. Other roads worth 2,000 kilometers are under construction. For the first time in Tanzania, fly overs and interchanges have been constructed in Dar es Salaam improving traffic flow; 13 big bridges have been constructed among them: Nyerere Bridge in Kigamboni, Magufuli Bridge in Kilombero River and Sibiti Bridge. Other bridges under construction include the 3.2-kilometer Kigongo-Busisi Bridge which Magufuli opted to fund it through proceeds of dividends from public entities, the 1.03-kilometer Salender Bridge crossing the Indian Ocean at Oysterbay in Dar es Salaam, and 513.5 meters Wami Bridge on the Dar es Salaam-Tanga-Horohoro highway.

The government is completing the construction of phase one of the 300-kilometer Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) from Dar es Salaam to Morogoro which is at over 80% completion, and the construction of phase two, a 422 kilometer stretch from Morogoro to Dodoma to Makutupora in Singida which is at 30 per cent. The two projects are worth Tsh7.06 trillion and are so far funded through local funds. Government has secured funds from external donors for other lots.

The expansion of ports – Dar es Salaam, Mtwara and Tanga is ongoing with Wharfs 1 and 2 completed at Dar port. Water transport in Victoria, Tanganyika and Nyasa has improved alongside renovation of ferries. The renovated New Victoria has resumed services as a new biggest vessel in Lake Victoria is under construction that will have a passenger capacity of 1,200 plus 400 tons of cargo.

The construction of passenger bay at Terminal III, Julius Nyerere International Airport has been completed and there is ongoing expansion of Kilimanjaro International Airport and Abeid Aman Karume Airport in Zanzibar among other Airports in Tanzania.

Through his personal ambition, President Magufuli has revived Air Tanzania Company Limited (ATLC) with the purchase of 11 new flights (eight are in operation) increasing the number of flight passengers from 4.8 million in 2015 to over 5.8 million in 2019.

The government has also improved access to reliable and affordable energy from 35percent to 85per cent attributed to lower connectivity fees from Tsh 177,000 to Tsh 27,000 which have eliminated power outages in the last five years.

Kinyerezi II project has added 240 MW and Kinyerezi I is expected to generate 325 MW of power once renovation is completed in December, 2020. The Julius Nyerere hydropower project will double the power supply in Tanzania and provide excess for her neighbors.

Rural electrification project has added the number of villages with access to electricity from 2,018 in 2015 to 9,400 in July, 2020. Tanzania has got 12,268 villages, thus slightly below 3,000 remain to be connected to the national grid. The target is to finalize the rest by June, 2021.

By switching off diesel-power generators from IPTL, Aggreko and Symbion, the government saves Tsh719 billion every year strengthening the financial muscle of TANESCO.

To drive industrialization the government of the republic of Tanzania has constructed 8,477 new industries of which 201 are big, 460 are medium and 3,406 are small manufacturing plants, this has increased the number of industries in Tanzania from 52,633 in 2015 to 61,110 in 2020 and created 482,681 new jobs.

In the Tourism sector, Tanzania has seen growth as 5 reserves (among them the Nyerere, Burigi-Chato, Ibanda-Kyerwa, Rumanyika-Karagwe) were started. International Tourism also increased efforts through new and special Television and Digital channels. Tanzania fought poaching by establishing a special wildlife protection unit/force, increasing Rhinos from 162 to 192 from 2015 to 2019, and elephants from 43,330 in 2014 to 51,299 in 2019. Through this effort, the Tourism industry saw an increase in tourists from 1,137,182 in 2015 to 1,510,151 in 2019 and led to Tourism income increasing to 2.6 billion in 2019 from 1.9 billion in 2015.

President Magufuli has been very passionate about the Mining sector and he showed this by passing the Natural Wealth and Resources – Permanent Sovereignty -Act 2017, as a show of love for his people making Tanzanians lawful owners of their own natural resources, This impact led to resolving the Barrick-Acacia tax row and formed the Twiga Minerals Company of which the government now owns 16% market share and Barrick holding 84%. Furthermore, the government efforts produced a compensation of 300million USD from Barrick Holding.

Inclusive of these efforts was the construction of a 25kilometer wall in the Mirerani Mine to protect precious minerals such as Tanzanite from being illegally exported. These efforts and more, are partly to explain the blossoming up of small miner billionaires like Saniniu Laizer.

The government also provided 221 mineral processing licenses, 4 smelting licenses & 4 refining licenses and set apart 38,567 hectares for small scale mining, and trained 10,338 miners.

Mining sector collection has more than jumped; the government having estimated to collect 470 Billion Tshs in the year 2019/2020, an upgrade from 346 billion Tshs in 2018/2019, even with the pandemic, managed to bring in a monthly record of 58 billion Tshs in April 2020, and achieve final annual collection of Tsh. 528.2 billion.

All these successes have culminated in the Country attaining Middle Income Status ahead of its target of 2025. The World Bank categorized Tanzania as a lower-middle income country on 1st July, 2020. As one of East Africas’ rapidly growing economies, Tanzania enters into the bracket of middle-income countries with a high eco-nomic growth rate, averaging 6-7% in the past decade, and 6.9% in the last five years decreasing poverty rate.

To implement such a development trajectory from a mere idea and in only five years is no mean feat. Tanzanians, who have seen all these promises actualized have scored big. The Magufuli era is a win for the people of Tanzania.

Tanzania today is slowly accelerating into a regional health hub offering specialist treatments such as heart surgery, kidney transplants, and cochlear implants to patients from East and Central Africa states.