COVID-19's Impact on Tanzania's Economy and Key Sector Prospects

Many governments in developing countries cannot respond to COVID-19 as solely a health crisis given the economic and political crises that also emerge. Tanzania's unconventional approach to COVID-19 may be slow in response and may lack direction, but its uniqueness illustrates the need for governments to form context-specific smart containment strategies and recovery plans. The government can increase public health funding to local health centers to implement mass testing, enforce social distancing and sanitation measures, and invest in agriculture and other key sectors to produce for the domestic economy. These initiatives enable the government to maintain multiple competing priorities: managing the transmission rate while ensuring food security and protecting jobs.