Tanzania has opened up investment opportunities in the health sector to philanthropists from the United Kingdom, seeking partnerships to strengthen primary healthcare, digital systems, innovation, technology and sustainable financing.
The government also wants to see greater participation of the private sector in delivering healthcare services as it moves to build a stronger and more resilient health system.
The Ministry of Health Permanent Secretary, Dr Grace Magembe, made the appeal on Monday, August 31, 2026, when she met a delegation of UK philanthropists in Dar es Salaam.
The visit was coordinated by the British High Commission in Tanzania and focused on identifying areas where philanthropic resources and expertise could support the country’s health priorities.
Dr Magembe said Tanzania had made significant progress in improving key health indicators over the past two decades, citing a sharp decline in maternal mortality as one of the notable achievements.
“Tanzania has made significant progress in improving health indicators over the past 20 years, including reducing maternal deaths from 556 to 104 per 100,000 live births,” she said.
She attributed the gains to government investment and collaboration with the private sector, civil society organisations and development partners.
However, Dr Magembe said future partnerships should strengthen national health systems rather than create structures that operate alongside government programmes.
She pointed to Tanzania’s experience with the Sector-Wide Approach (SWAp) as evidence of the importance of aligning development resources with national priorities.
“The experience has shown the importance of partners directing resources towards national priorities and strengthening existing systems rather than establishing parallel systems,” she said.
On health financing, Dr Magembe said the government was implementing Universal Health Insurance to expand access to healthcare, improve affordability and raise the quality of services.
She said the reform would require sustainable financing and stronger partnerships among the government, development partners and the private sector.
Among the areas Tanzania considers to have significant investment potential are primary healthcare, health information systems, digital health, artificial intelligence (AI), innovation, and local production of medicines and medical equipment.
Dr Magembe said investment in these areas could improve efficiency in healthcare delivery, ease the workload of health workers and enable policymakers and health facilities to make decisions based on accurate and timely data.
The government is also seeking to promote domestic production of medicines and medical equipment, a move expected to strengthen the country’s capacity to respond to health challenges while reducing reliance on imports.
The engagement with UK philanthropists signals Tanzania’s broader effort to attract resources, technology and expertise into the health sector as it seeks to improve access to quality and affordable healthcare.
Dr Magembe said partnerships would be most effective when they were aligned with government priorities and focused on strengthening systems that can deliver sustainable benefits to Tanzanians.