Resource nationalism on the rise in Tanzania under President Magufuli

In May 2017, Tanzania’s President John Magufuli declared ‘economic warfare’ on foreign mining companies, which he accused of draining the country’s mineral wealth. Subsequently, new legislation has been passed to restate the country’s sovereignty over its natural resources. Contracts have been renegotiated. Some have seen this as the emergence of the same ‘new resource nationalism’ that has been observed in other African countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and Zambia recently.

However, Thabit Jacob from Roskilde University and Rasmus Hundsbæk Pedersen from DIIS argue that the continuities from the previous administration are pronounced. They present their findings in the new article, ‘New resource nationalism? Continuity and change in Tanzania’s extractive industries’in The Extractive Industries and Society: The tougher fiscal take, the involvement of state-owned enterprises (SOEs) and the presidents’ direct involvement in deal-making were well underway before Magufuli came to power. This represented a broader shift of thinking in the ruling party spurred by increasingly competitive elections since 2010. What is new is the President’s personality and populist style.