country profile

Tanzania

Sub-Saharan AfricaLower middle income70.55M population

Last updated August 26, 2026

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Severely underprepared

Composite GEFRI Score

Severe readiness constraints across dimensions

Tanzania shows severely limited readiness to meet the challenges and opportunities of education in a rapidly changing world (18th percentile worldwide). Key structural conditions limit capacity to plan, implement, and sustain forward-looking reforms.

35.55Composite score
Global percentile
18th
Global rank
#146
Regional rank
#20
Viewing data for
Emerging readiness
Infrastructure
48.77
20th percentileGlobal avg. 70.44
Severely underprepared
Human Capital
39.14
11th percentileGlobal avg. 66.18
Severely underprepared
Innovation
32.87
24th percentileGlobal avg. 48.64
Severely underprepared
Governance
39.80
39th percentileGlobal avg. 47.07
Critically unprepared
Access & Parity
17.18
18th percentileGlobal avg. 60.85

Country profile

Tanzania faces substantial readiness constraints across core dimensions. Its weakest results are in Infrastructure (49, 20th percentile), Human Capital (39, 11th percentile), GEFRI Composite (36, 18th percentile), Innovation (33, 24th percentile) and School Access and Gender Parity (17, 18th percentile). These gaps continue to weigh on overall readiness.

Uneven scores across dimensions show where readiness conditions are less aligned. Limited electricity or internet coverage still constrains classrooms, preventing large-scale digital instruction. Literacy or tertiary enrollment gaps thin the talent pipeline and limit the country’s capacity to develop future-ready skills.

Sparse R&D investment and a small research workforce slow experimentation and delay new ideas from reaching learners. Policy execution and regulatory capacity remain weak, leaving reforms fragmented and hard to sustain. Girls outperform boys in secondary pathways, adding pressure to address male dropout risks.

Governance presents a near-term leapfrog opportunity: performance is just below the global average, backed by enough observed data to support forward planning. Regionally, School Access and Gender Parity lags peers the most, signalling where investment could have the highest impact.

Most indicators are observed rather than imputed, so estimation uncertainty is limited.

Key insights

Falls below many peers at the 18th percentile.

Places 146th worldwide.

Holds a regional position of 20th within Sub-Saharan Africa.

Scores range from Infrastructure (48.8) to Access & Parity (17.2), reflecting variation across dimensions.

Trails regional peers most clearly in Access & Parity.

Regional peers: Sub-Saharan Africa

Composite GEFRI Score

Global rankRegional rankCountryScore
611Mauritius69.13
672South Africa68.78
SeychellesMicrostate64.14
863Botswana63.01
974Namibia59.03
1005Ghana58.00
1156Eswatini49.17
1167Cabo Verde49.06
1238Rwanda44.81
1279Gambia, The43.01
12810Kenya42.93
12911Senegal42.87
13012Gabon42.59
13213Equatorial Guinea41.26
13314Cote d'Ivoire41.19
13915Zambia38.11
14016Lesotho37.98
Sao Tome and PrincipeFCSMicrostate37.69
14117Togo37.61
14418Benin36.56
14519Zimbabwe36.55
14620Tanzania35.55
14721CameroonFCS35.16
14922Mauritania34.17
15023Sierra Leone33.62
15124ComorosFCS33.36
15225Burkina FasoFCS32.56
15326Congo, Rep.FCS32.39
15427Uganda32.27
15528Angola32.18
15729NigeriaFCS31.67
15830MozambiqueFCS30.55
15931MalawiFCS30.35
16032EthiopiaFCS30.26
16133MaliFCS29.69
16234Madagascar29.63
16435Guinea28.36
16536Guinea-BissauFCS28.36
16837Liberia24.94
16938NigerFCS24.54
17039Burundi24.53
17140Congo, Dem. Rep.FCS24.39
17241SudanFCS23.03
17342EritreaFCS21.02
17443ChadFCS20.62
17544Central African RepublicFCS20.44
17645SomaliaFCS20.32
17746South SudanFCS18.91