Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan is on a three-day state visit to Russia, including a meeting with President Vladimir Putin.
This is the first time since 1969 that a Tanzanian leader has visited Moscow. At that time he was Julius Nyerere, whose socialist policies shaped Tanzania in the 1960s, 1970s and 1980s.
Warm relations between Tanzania, Russia
Russian efforts to build ties with Hassan’s government began shortly after his disputed 2025 re-election, when he received 98% of the vote. A Russian delegation reportedly met with Hassan after the vote in October with a personal message from Putin.
Hassan has brought a Tanzanian business delegation to Russia that is hoping to sign trade, tourism and minerals deals. Currently, the balance of trade between Tanzania and Russia stands at around $307 million (€264 million) a year, but a new Russia-Tanzania Business Council created in January aims to boost this figure. Air Tanzania has said it will launch flights from Dar es Salaam to Moscow by the end of 2026.
“Russia has long been a major partner of Tanzania,” said Godwin Gonde, a lecturer at the Dr. Salim Ahmed Salim Center for International Relations in Tanzania. “It is a country that does not pay much attention to the internal affairs of the countries it wants to cooperate with.”
He told DW that visiting Russia “holds important diplomatic importance, because many Western countries have imposed sanctions on Tanzania and some leaders,” depriving him of the opportunity to visit those countries.
In recent years, Russia has sought to re-establish relations with former Cold War partner countries. Since the fall of the Soviet Union, the importance of many of those relationships had diminished. Russia has attempted to strike trade deals, engage multilaterally through BRICS and offer military deals to Sahel countries such as Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso.
“By welcoming Tanzania, especially at this time, it sends a message to Western countries [Russia] “It still has a place among African countries,” Gonde said. He said that Russia is working to eliminate Western influence on the continent.
Mixed reaction on Hassan’s visit
Apart from meeting Putin, Hassan is also expected to participate in the St. Petersburg International Economic Forum.
Paternus Niegira, a political analyst based in Dar es Salaam, told DW that it is an opportunity for Hassan “to convince investors and people around the world that Tanzania is a safe country in East Africa, in Africa, south of the Sahara Africa, where you can invest.”
Hassan is also to receive an honorary degree from Russia’s Peoples’ Friendship University for his diplomatic efforts and contribution to Tanzania’s profile.
Back home, Nyigira said there has been a mixed reaction to the president’s visit. Some, including the opposition in Tanzania, have criticized Hassan for “returning to the same system” when Russia was still a communist country. On the other hand, the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi party has welcomed the visit with “enthusiasm”, as Nyegira said of the potential for trade and investment.
Niegira said Hassan’s visit is in line with Tanzania’s foreign policy of non-alignment, “inform[ing] “The world that Tanzania does not subscribe to one nation or the other.”
US sanctions Tanzanian police officer
Hassan’s visit to Russia comes at a time when Tanzania’s reputation among Western democracies has been badly damaged, with Gonde saying it could be an attempt to change the country’s image and “wash away the post-election humiliation”.
Western diplomats and rights groups have accused Hassan’s government of killing hundreds of people during election unrest in October. Hassan has not publicly condemned the crackdown on dissenting voices in Tanzania. A government report on election violence said 518 people were killed but did not say who was responsible.
In response, the EU reportedly withheld €156 million in development funds after an EU delegation was denied entry to Tanzania following election violence.
Late last year, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said Washington was reviewing relations with Tanzania over repression and election violence. In May, US Senators Ted Cruz and Jeanne Shaheen A bipartisan bill was introduced that would reevaluate US-Tanzania bilateral relations, freeze aid, and hold senior officials accountable for human rights abuses.
A few days later, Rubio announced sanctions against Tanzanian Senior Assistant Commissioner Faustine Jackson Mafwele, based on credible information that Mafwele was involved in rights violations. Rubio made particular reference to the detention and torture of Ugandan activist Agather Atuhire and Kenyan activist Boniface Mwangi, who were in Dar es Salaam to attend the judicial trial of detained opposition leader Tundu Lissu.
Edited by: Martin Kuebler