The President of Finland, Alexander Stubb, is expected to pay a state visit to Tanzania from May 14 to 16, 2025. President Stubb last visited Tanzania in 2013 as the Minister for European Affairs and Foreign Trade.
During his last visit in 2013, by then, Stubb shared about his ‘dignified foreign policy’ approach, and explained what it meant to Europe and countries like Tanzania. It was a policy that balanced realism and fairness. In his remark, Stubb urged Tanzania to brand itself by highlighting the progress it has attained, to change outdated perceptions in Europe and even Asia.
Fast forward to 2025, the European Union itself is adapting to changing realities, as the world becomes more transactional, and doubts over the current rule-based world are in the air, with the new inclination to ‘might is always right’. I have mentioned this because I have listened to some of Stubb’s lectures. If you are an ardent follower of geopolitics, you will enjoy listening and, most importantly, his perspective, which I believe aligns with most of what African countries will advocate for. Most African states want to see a state of international order where fair rules apply, and international laws accepted by all states mean something.
On Wednesday, May 14, 2025, President Stubb will meet President Samia Suluhu Hassan, aside from the celebration of the 60 years of diplomatic relations, the two leaders will have a discussion focusing on bilateral relations between Finland and Tanzania, geopolitical changes, global challenges, and their impact on African countries and Europe.
While Tanzania has been essentially minimizing its direct involvement in global politics, through its ‘economic foreign policy’, new regional realities, especially the recent Eastern DRC crisis and how it played out, force Tanzania to rethink its strategy when it comes to the new realities of the world.
We have already seen Tanzania reviving its passion with the recent Tanzanian president’s visit to Angola and the invitation and warm welcome it extended to the new Mozambique president. Tanzania is on a mission to revive, recalibrate its existing network, friendships.
Friends we keep
When Tanzania rightly decided to choose a non-alignment foreign policy during the Cold War, Nordic countries played a big role in making this policy make sense, through support and understanding. This can be noted through budgetary support, with initiatives like the Kibaha Education Centre, which was inaugurated in 1964 as the Nordic Tanganyika Centre, and was co-sponsored by Finland, Denmark, Norway, and Sweden, remains as one of the major highlights of these relations.
Finland chose Tanzania as its first partner country in development cooperation, and the two nations established formal diplomatic relations on June 14, 1965. Since then, their cooperation has continued to flourish in various areas, including trade and investment, forestry, mining, education, and other key sectors.
President Stubb is a proponent of multilateralism in a growing multipolar world, he underscores that multipolarity makes more sense to larger states with extensive military power. This view aligns with the stance of countries like Tanzania. While we maintain cordial relations with all major powers, our non-aligned policy underscores our commitment to sovereignty. It will be interesting to see what the two leaders discussed in this context.
These discussions are important, especially as the race for critical minerals places Africa in the new limelight. Africa must stay in key conversations to avoid finding itself in a disadvantaged position again.
I believe another area that will be of importance to Tanzania on this visit is technology, especially information technology. Whereas Finland, with companies like Elisa and Nokia spearheading research and development in 5G and 6G technologies, is at the forefront of global ICT innovation. According to the European Union’s Digital Economy and Society Index (DESI) 2022, Finland is the leading EU country in digital skills and has the second-largest proportion of ICT specialists in its labor force.
Perhaps President Stubb will also share a thing or two on what makes Finland the happiest country in the world, a title it has held for eight consecutive years, as per the UN-sponsored World Happiness Report.
Tony Alfred K is a writer and analyst working with The Chanzo. He can be reached at tony@thechanzo.com and on X @tonyalfredk.
