The gender gap in agricultural productivity is estimated at 20-30% and women entrepreneurs’ revenues are 46% less than those of male entrepreneurs in Tanzania. Women wage workers are more likely than men to make less money or not be paid for their work, women are the most land insecure and politics continues to be masculinized. While the country has moved towards gender equality at lower levels of education, there are still significant gender gaps at the upper secondary level. Gender inequality increases women’s  lack of agency at home, and thus increases their vulnerability to gender-based violence. An estimated 40% of all women aged 15-49 years have experienced physical violence, while 17% have experienced sexual violence.  About 58% of women and 40% of men believe that a husband is justified in beating his wife under certain circumstances.

To address this, it is essential to prioritize policies that focus on overcoming gender gaps, on giving women access to human capital, economic opportunities, ownership and control of assets and that promote women’s voice and agency. Tanzania's National Five-Year Development Plan (2021/2022-2025/2026), and the Tanzania Development Vision 2025 emphasize the need for integrated approaches to promote gender equality and to create greater opportunities, especially for young people.

Furthermore, a robust social protection programme (targeting women) and leveraging the potential of the digital can empower women by enabling them to succeed in the future of work, to access essential digital services, including those for education and health care, and to increase their civic and political engagement.

With a national unemployment rate in the United Republic of Tanzania of approximately 9.3% (9.0% in Tanzania Mainland and 19.7% in Zanzibar); youth unemployment reaching 14.7% (Tanzania Mainland) and 33.6% (Zanzibar); female unemployment (12.7) higher than males (5.8%) in 2021; and unemployment by disability at 7.2% males, 6.0 females –  it is crucial to give special attention to gender, youth and people with disabilities when addressing the issue of decent work for all.  

Investing in SDG 8 (decent work and economic growth) can help the United Republic of Tanzania to address current employment challenges  and to focus on key priority areas, such as poverty eradication, zero hunger, improved health care and education.

Progress on Target 8.5 (By 2030 achieve full and productive employment) should be supported by policies that reduce energy intensity and increase its efficiency  to mitigate the negative impact on the share of renewable energy (Target 7.2) and by energy efficiency (Target 7.3).

SDG 9.2 aims to foster inclusive and sustainable industrialization in Tanzania while simultaneously enhancing its economic growth. Despite recent improvements, manufacturing value added as a proportion of GDP and per capita remains relatively low and declining in Tanzania (around 8.3 % in 2021).

However, the pursuit of industrialization also entails trade-offs. It requires careful consideration of environmental sustainability, as industrial activities can have adverse ecological impacts—affecting ecosystems (15, 2), potable water (6), life below water (14) and life on land (15).  Rapid industrialization could put pressure on energy access (7.2) at the expense of energy sustainability (7.2, 7.3). Ensuring inclusivity in this process is crucial to prevent potential social, gender and territorial inequalities (10, 5).

By investing in SDG 9.2 (Industry, Infrastructure and Innovation), Tanzania can improve on current employment challenges and focus on key priorities around the eradication of poverty, reducing inequality, improving the business environment and local entrepreneurship. This is complemented with continued state promotion of innovative start-ups in various sectors, such as fintech, agrotech and health tech, which will increase the economy’s ability to absorb the ever-increasing youth population into the workforce.

In Tanzania approximately 54.7% of the population expresses satisfaction with the public services they receive. By focusing on SDG 16 (Peace, justice and strong institutions), and specifically on Target 16.6, measures can be implemented to cut across all goals and pillars outlined in the National Five-Year Development Plan 2021/2022- 2025/2026 where public services are provided.

This offers Tanzania the opportunity to set a more ambitious goal, for example to increase the percentage of the population satisfied with the public services received. This increase will have a positive multiplier effect on the progress of other SDGs.

However, it is crucial to ensure that this aim is accompanied by safeguards to prevent the deepening of poverty and of inequalities.