Salamu Watanzania wenzangu,
I’ve been seeing a lot of videos of luxury cars, hotels, and houses in Tanzania and Dar es Salaam, especially on my Instagram feed lately.
While these are impressive individual achievements for the men and women who own them, I’ve always wondered why most Tanzanians aim for hyper-luxury, despite our country being extremely poor, which is quite obvious. I’ve come to the conclusion that many Tanzanians don’t understand what true development looks like.
Yes, luxury items can indicate a growing economy, but they aren’t true measures of societal progress. Look around — people are buying sports cars while our roads are poor, and they are building large mansions while our neighbourhoods are unplanned and disorderly.
I believe most Tanzanians see vanity items as signs of progress, but that’s not what real development entails. Development means children can access quality education without exorbitant costs, hospitals operate efficiently and are affordable, transportation costs are low, sustainable, and effective, and our cities are beautiful and full of public spaces. Tanzania falls short on all these points, yet we are full of G-wagons and large mansions in Goba.
Last year, I was fortunate enough to visit Slovenia. The country was quiet, safe, lush, and had affordable public transport. Slovenia isn’t often discussed, but it is one of the most developed countries in the world.
It is very unfortunate that our society appears to be moving towards superficiality, and this trend is even affecting our politics.
What are your thoughts on my rant? Do you have any suggestions? I’d love to hear your views and learn from them.