Tanzanians debate the meaning of new ‘lower-middle-income’ World Bank status · Global Voices
The Dar Rapid Transit (DART) is a bus-based mass transit system connecting the suburbs of Dar Es Salaam to the central business district., which began operations on May 10, 2016. Photo by Mazupixel / CC BY-SA.
On July 1, 2020, the World Bank changed Tanzania's income classification from a low-income to a lower-middle-income country, sparking a national debate on the meaning of development and how to measure it.
President <PERSON> announced the World Bank’s updated classification on Twitter, explaining that Tanzania had reached a “middle-income” status five years before its intended goal of 2025.
<PERSON> leo tarehe 01 Julai, 2020 imeitangaza Tanzania kuingia UCHUMI WA KATI.Nawapongeza Watanzania wenzangu kwa mafanikio haya.Huu ni ushindi mkubwa na kazi kubwa tumeifanya, tulipanga kuingia uchumi wa kati ifikapo 2025 lakini tumefanikiwa 2020.MUNGU IBARIKI TANZANIA
— Dr <PERSON> (@MagufuliJP) July 1, 2020
Today, July 1, 2020, the World Bank announced that Tanzania has become a middle-income country. I congratulate my Tanzanian colleagues for this achievement. This is a big feat that we have accomplished and important work that we have done, since we planned on becoming a middle-income country in 2025 but succeeded in 2020. <PERSON> bless Tanzania.
Some Tanzanias — particularly supporters of Tanzania’s ruling Chama cha Mapinduzi or Revolutionary Party (CCM) — lauded <PERSON> for his early achievement. But critics argue that the World Bank’s updated classification did not accurately reflect the lives of most Tanzanians and did not align with first Tanzanian President <PERSON>’s vision of human-centered development.
A few netizens speculated about their glitzier weekend plans now that they had reached middle-income status. Tanzania’s CCM-affiliated Minister of Tourism and Natural Resources, <PERSON>, jokingly thanked small-scale miner <PERSON>, who recently made international headlines for discovering two large Tanzanite stones and becoming an overnight billionaire , for the country’s reclassification from low-income to lower-middle-income:
<PERSON> kwa kutupa bilionea Laizer! ?????? pic.twitter.com/uTahqA6cm5
— Dr. <PERSON>, H. (<PERSON>) July 3, 2020
Thank you, <PERSON>, for giving us Billionaire <PERSON>!
Increased GNI — and people living in poverty?
Tanzania’s Gross National Income (GNI) per capita — a measure of a country’s average income per resident — went up from $1,020 in 2018 to $1,080 in 2019, which put it above the World Bank’s current threshold for lower-middle-income status. GNI per capita is the total income of a country's residents and businesses divided by the country's population.
Drawing attention to the shortcomings of GNI per capita, writer <PERSON> tweeted a hypothetical breakdown of how GNI per capita is calculated:
Mnapoambiwa Mido Inkamu Kantri muwe mnaelewa maana yake si kushangilia tu kama @hpolepole aliyeamua kuuza utu wake.
Mfano
1. Mo?1000
2. Bakheresa?900
3. 424
Rostam?700
4. Mimi?14
5. Wewe?18
7. Mwanangu?0
8. Mwanao?0
Jumla?2632
Jumla/8=329
Pato la wastani la kila mtu ni 329 pic.twitter.com/4yag5Hk9fX
— Dotto Rangimoto (@JiniKinyonga) July 5, 2020
When you are told “middle-income country,” you have to understand what that means rather than simply rejoice, like @hpolepole, who has decided to sell his own personhood. For example, say that
1. <PERSON> earns $1,000
2. <PERSON> earns $900
3. <PERSON> earns $700
4. I earn $14
5. You earn $18
6. My child earns $0
7. 1017