Good evening and welcome! I’m delighted to have you all here tonight. Today is not only an occasion for EU citizens to celebrate our Union, but also a wonderful opportunity to thank many of you—our partners and friends—for the excellent cooperation and strong commitment you show throughout the year.

I am especially honoured to host you in the presence of Honourable Minister Kombo with us, who visited our EU Headquarters in April. We had very constructive discussions on how to further strengthen our cooperation with different EU institutions. I believe the visit may have also been a bit of an eye-opener on how the EU actually works—sometimes even for Europeans! 

[After 70 years of integration, the European Union has developed an institutional system of checks and balances. A bit like assembling IKEA furniture, but with 27 people preparing and arguing over the manual, but the furniture in the end is built!]  

A very warm welcome as well to all the resident ambassadors of EU Member States. Together, we form what we proudly call Team Europe. And a big thank you to my colleagues for our great teamwork here in Tanzania. We really do embody the EU’s motto: United in Diversity. Yes, we come from different cultures, speak different languages, but we’re united by our shared values and common goals.

We have good discussions, we don’t always agree, but we can agree that we disagree and this is what makes our Union strong: frank and open discussions to get the best out of our common work. 

I am also very pleased that my whole family is present today. 

This year is special. It marks 50 years of EU-Tanzania relations, and also the 25th anniversary of EU-AU relations. Yesterday, we had the AU-EU ministerial meeting in Brussels. If you saw the photos—yes, it looked like a family reunion where everyone showed up! But more importantly, it was a powerful reminder that together, the EU and the African Union represent the hopes, dreams, and voices of over 1.9 billion people. That’s a lot of expectations—but also a lot of opportunities.

As ministers noted in Brussels, our partnership is overcoming past and present geopolitical challenges. It shows clearly: our future lies in close cooperation and joint action that benefits both continents.

Of course, the world today is very different than it was 50—or even 25—years ago. Everything is moving fast. International cooperation has often turned into global competition, with an impact on all of us. 

This shift affects how we work together in Tanzania too. But our conviction is stronger than ever: Tanzania and the EU must work even more closely, not just because it’s a nice idea, but because it brings real, tangible benefits to the lives of our people.

We are also celebrating Europe day as it has brought peace to Europe after two terrible world wars. It is with utmost sadness that we have seen war coming back to our region, but also many of the terrible conflicts worldwide. 

The European Union is also composed of democracies, flourishing through political participation for all, guaranteed fundamental rights, free and fair elections and characterised by freedom in the way we live. These were important (hard learned) lessons from the wounds of the war, leading to the development towards a prosperous future with equal opportunities for all. 

Externally, as European Union, our engagement also tries to reflect unity in diversity — working with our partners to promote open dialogue, shared stability and prosperity as well as universal values, to create the basis for peaceful societies and regions. 

As also stated in the new Tanzanian foreign policy, we strongly believe in the importance of a rules-based international order, not the law of the strongest, and are committed to multilateralism. African Union and EU Ministers agreed  yesterday on the importance of effective multilateral cooperation to address shared global challenges. 

Let me remind you in this context that the EU and its Member States remain the first trading partner, first investor, first ODA and humanitarian donor to Africa. We are a strong supporter of African regional integration. Africa is a geopolitical priority of the EU.

The European Union continues in this context to be a  consistent, predictable and reliable partner. We wish our relations to be based on trust and respect. Recklessness, absence of empathy and of a rules based order is not our style (I hopeJ). But we realise that we need to fight harder these days than even a year ago. 

It is therefore that we continue to engage with partners and friends around the world through open dialogue. We want to find solutions for global challenges and build strong partnerships.

 And Tanzania is a key partner in this endeavour to the European Union. 

In Tanzania, our visions for the future are aligned. The EU fully supports the Union’s Vision 2050, seeking increasing value addition in key value chains - critical raw materials or sustainable agriculture, digitalisation, and improvement of transport infrastructure. And we are strongly involved in all the priority areas under the updated Tanzanian Foreign Policy, including on blue economy and clean energy.

Which brings me to the theme of today’s celebration: I GOT THE POWER.

We choose to highlight this year our cooperation on energy. 

Renewable Energy is a key element in limiting and adapting to climate change. Clean transition is both a responsibility towards our children and an economic opportunity for today's generations. 

In Tanzania, we are increasing our support for the clean energy transition. Just to mention our 92 billion TZS grant for our Clean Cooking Programme. The “Cook Fund” supports local businesses to offer modern cooking solutions to reduce reliance on charcoal. We are providing a 110.6 billion TZS grant for the Kakono Hydropower Project in Kagera, which will supply renewable electricity to the grid. It will also cut carbon emissions by over 200,000 tonnes annually. 

Over the last 7 years, we’ve supported the Rural Energy Agency to improve livelihoods in rural areas, connecting around one third of villages in mainland Tanzania and providing electricity to over 1 million people.

Our support to TANESCO, includes a  EU grant of 92 billion TZS to the Tanzania – Zambia Interconnector (TAZA), an important investment which will enable regional power trade between Southern African Power Pool (SAPP) and Eastern African Power Pool (EAPP) countries and increase availability of reliable power to underserved areas in both countries. 

I will stop with these numbers now. We have Gen Z here and I don’t want to bore them. But let me finally mention in this context the importance of mainstreaming gender in our policies. 

The energy sector in Tanzania, like in many other countries, remains male-dominated. I am therefore very proud that the EU, in collaboration with UNDP, the Embassy of Ireland, and the Ministry of Energy, funded scholarships for young women in sustainable energy engineering. 

Some of these young women are here with us today, and I would recommend you to hear their inspiring stories of resilience, determination, and contributions to bridging the gender gap in the energy sector.  You can meet them in the booth and there are also some videos on our work in Tanzania. 

So in short: Moving forward, let us build on this strong foundation. Let us work together as partners, as friends and address these common challenges. The European Union is a reliable partner and we engage in open, direct and constructive cooperation.  From clean energy to trade, health to education, democracy to innovation—our cooperation is vibrant, evolving, and impactful.

So tonight, let’s celebrate what we’ve achieved together. Let’s raise a glass—to unity, to partnership, to a shared future. And let’s enjoy the evening… before we all go back to our inboxes tomorrow morning!

Asanteni Sana!