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This chapter sets the pan-African context in which the repatriation occurs. In particular, it explains the rise of Tanzania as a safe haven for African freedom fighters and radical diasporic Africans in the 1960s and 1970s, connecting the repatriation to wider diasporic engagement with Tanzania in this period. It places ujamaa within the context of other African socialisms of the day and highlights the role of pan-Africanism in the making of Tanzania’s modern history.

This chapter discusses the rise of Pan Africanism as a dominant ideology of the late 1960s. It examines the emergence of cadres of organizers as a framework for the practice of “Pan African nationalism,” the fusion of black nationalist and Pan Africanist politics. Many activists saw Pan African nationalism and the construction of independent black institutions as critical components of a new phase of struggle. The Congress of African People (CAP) was the main organizational expression of Pan African nationalism. This chapter profiles several Pan African nationalist schools associated with CAP. It explores the political contradictions of the quest for “Africanization,” critiquing the patriarchy and idealism of such campaigns. The chapter concludes with a discussion of Left Pan Africanism as an alternative to the essentialism of Racial Pan Africanism. The theories of West African revolutionary Amilcar Cabral and other international influences behind the shift to Left Pan Africanism are explored.

In this chapter the origins of Julius Nyerere’s African Socialism program are set out. The discussion covers the early years of independence (1961–7), the Arusha Declaration, the policies of African Socialism, the five-year plans, and villagization (forced movement of peasants to villages). It discusses the role of the aid community in these developments, and shows how these policies taxed agriculture heavily, fostered inefficiencies, and encouraged corruption.

This chapter provides conclusions and a final assessment. It discusses the reliability of the data, and considers whether or not Tanzania is indeed a success story. It argues that the aid community was complicit in the ruining of the economy in the 1970s; and how, interestingly, the same community changed course in the 1980s and 1990s, and greatly contributed to the country’s resurgence. Is Tanzania a success story? Not quite; it is work in progress.

The problem is set, and the questions are asked. Why did the Tanzania economy collapse in the 1980s? How did it manage to recover? What was the role of international aid in these developments? Is Tanzania, finally, a success story?