Why Tanzania’s statistics look fishy

AFTER THE cold war ended, much of Africa democratised and opened up. Few countries better embodied the feverish hope of the 1990s than Tanzania. It had suffered grievously in the 1960s and 1970s under its founding leader, Julius Nyerere. A nascent democracy was throttled by one-party rule. An economy with great potential was wrecked by “African socialism”. Some 11m peasants were forced into collective villages, where they went hungry.Democracy and economic freedom revived Tanzania. In 1995 the country held its first free elections in 30 years. As state controls were relaxed, investment flowed in. Steady growth more than doubled income per person between 1994 and 2010.