Ambassador of Finland in Tanzania

Salaam kutoka kwa Balozi, Dar es Salaam

 

I have started my duties as the Ambassador of Finland to Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi at the Embassy of Finland in Dar es Salaam in June 2019. Africa is a new and exciting adventure for me, and I am really looking forward to learning more about it.

My previous posting was in Abu Dhabi as the Finnish Ambassador where learned a lot of the Arab world, culture and Islam. This experience I suppose will help me quite a lot in Tanzania as well, keeping in mind that Sub Sahara Africa is historically and culturally an unique region to serve.

Finnish efforts in Tanzania have historically emphasized development cooperation and Tanzania is the first development cooperation partner of Finland. This is still the case but I hope that in the future business relations between our two countries could also be encouraged. In all my efforts I have to keep in mind the special historical, political and economic circumstances in Tanzania. Our attitude also matters; we will not come to Tanzania to tell how make things. Our role is to discuss, affect and share our experiences and best practices.

Trade promotion was my main task in Abu Dhabi, and I hope I can use the experience from my previous posting in Tanzania, Rwanda, and Burundi. To my delight, the Business Finland office in Nairobi has received some extra resources and can now better contribute to Finnish business interests in Tanzania.

My own career in the Ministry for Foreign Affairs has lasted already over 30 years. This has given me a wide view of the tasks, duties and possibilities of diplomatic work. In spite of bilateral government level contacts and cooperation it consists much of working together with other, various international organizations, the European Union and NGOs.

I hope I can establish a lively contact with Finns living in Tanzania and the Finnish NGO’s working in the country. You can be my guides to the local society and partners in my work. With better coordination and sharing of information, I am sure we can reach good results.

 

Riitta Swan