By Enyichukwu Enemanna
Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu Hassan on Wednesday held talks with her Russian counterpart, Vladimir Putin, marking the beginning of a three-day state visit to Moscow, her first official international trip since she won a re-election last year.
This comes after the East African country was largely isolated by the West following crackdown on protesters who took to the streets to demonstrate against her controversial re-election in October last year, in which an estimated 1,000 persons were killed by security forces.
Despite her poor human rights records, Putin was one of the first world leaders to congratulate her after she was declared winner with 98 per cent of the vote.
During Wednesday’s meeting, the Russian President thanked Hassan for the visit.
“We see this as a very positive sign that all these years, especially in recent years, when you served as both minister and in the government, as vice president, you have consistently focused on developing our bilateral ties,” the Russian leader said.
He said trade ties between the two countries were developing “intensively” and noted that trade turnover rose by 25 per cent in 2025.
President Hassan was accompanied by a business delegation as she hopes to cement deals in trade, tourism, and minerals.
Hassan, in turn, thanked Russia for its contribution to Africa’s liberation movements and welcomed the opportunity to discuss further development of bilateral relations.
Relations between the two countries have been warming since Hassan’s election.
A planned uranium mine has been on the drawing board for more than a decade between the two countries. Tanzania is one of Africa’s top five producers of the element.
A Russia-Tanzania Business Council was created in January and last month Air Tanzania announced the launch of direct flights to Moscow by the end of the year.
On Friday Hassan will attend the Petersburg International Economic Forum.
