IN the bustling maze of Kariakoo, where Dar es Salaam pulses with commerce, livelihoods are negotiated daily—not just in Tanzanian shillings, but in sweat, hustle, and increasingly, in the quiet surrender of once-local territory to foreign dominance. Kariakoo has long been the nerve centre of Tanzania’s retail and wholesale economy.
But today, it also tells a more complicated story: one of foreign incursion, systemic loopholes, and a slow erosion of local entrepreneurial sovereignty, largely driven by the growing dominance of Chinese businesses.
According to a recent parliamentary investigation into 75 foreign-owned shops in Kariakoo, the majority of these businesses, run predominantly by Chinese nationals, are operating in the retail space – an area legally preserved for Tanzanian citizens.
Out of 152 employees in these businesses, 148 were directly involved in retail, a violation that turns the spotlight not only on the traders but also on the state’s regulatory failure.
These are not isolated incidents. They represent a trend, enabled by porous policies and what many traders suspect is quiet complicity from local authorities.
What makes this scenario more troubling is the invisible war waged against Tanzanian traders.
Armed with deep financial reserves, access to cheaper goods from home markets, and favorable shipping deals, many Chinese traders are able to undercut local prices by wide margins.
Tanzanian traders, operating on thin capital and without global supply chain privileges, find themselves priced out of their own markets.
“It’s like fighting a lion with a stick,” laments Jackson Ezekiel, a Kariakoo trader with seven years of experience.
Another spokesperson, Hendry Kanje, explains how locals are now compelled to wait until Chinese traders deplete their stock before they can make meaningful sales.
In a marketplace governed by margins and speed, this delay isn’t just bad for business; it’s economic suffocation.
To some, these developments might be interpreted as the natural consequence of globalization; the consequences of open markets and foreign investment.
After all, competition can spur innovation, improve consumer access, and lower prices. But when competition is not grounded in equity, it stops being productive and becomes parasitic.
It is not globalization when one side is allowed to break rules while the other follows them blindly; it’s economic colonization.
Yet, solutions are far from straightforward. Minister for Industry and Trade, Dr. Selemani Jafo, appointed a 15-member committee to investigate and recommend solutions.
But while the committee confirmed the prevalence of foreign participation in retail, its recommendations fell short of meeting the traders’ main demand, that is, the complete exit of foreign actors from retail and micro-trade sectors.
The muted government response perhaps reflects a deeper fear. Rocking the boat may damage diplomatic ties, especially with China, Tanzania’s long-standing economic partner and creditor.
That concern is not unfounded. As University of Dar es Salaam lecturer Muhidin Shangwe cautions, any move perceived as xenophobic or protectionist could trigger reciprocal actions against Tanzanians operating in China, particularly in cities like Guangzhou.
Indeed, Tanzanian foreign policy has always leaned towards cautious diplomacy, and in this case, it risks favouring silence over sovereignty.
But silence has a cost
When laws meant to protect local enterprise are ignored or bypassed, it sends a dangerous message, that foreign capital, when dressed in enough diplomatic glitter, can rewrite the rules.
It tells young Tanzanian entrepreneurs that no matter how hard they work, how loyal they are to their market, they are second-class players in their own economy.
This is not a call to expel all foreign traders, nor is it an indictment of Chinese entrepreneurship. Rather, it is a plea for fair trade governed by policy, accountability, and respect for local economic frameworks.
Tanzania must review its economic empowerment laws, tighten regulatory enforcement, and draw clear lines between foreign and local business jurisdictions. Foreign investment must complement, not cannibalize, local trade.
Kariakoo is not just a market. It is a mirror reflecting what Tanzania stands to gain or lose in the age of global commerce. If we allow the tide of unfair competition to rise unchecked, we risk drowning our own economic future beneath waves not of opportunity, but of quiet conquest.
With the Kariakoo dilemma and the Chinese business dominance, competition has turned to colonisation:
