M a r k e t N e w s
Tanzania Strategic Cities Project Gets $130 Million World Bank Boost
Posted on : Wednesday, 1st March 2017
Dar es Salaam — The World Bank Group commitment to continue supporting Tanzania was reaffirmed on Monday after it approved $130 million (Sh275 billion) aimed at financing the Tanzania Strategic Cities Project (TSCP).
The project, which is going on, started in 2010 in different cities and towns across the country.
Initially, the project was estimated to cost a total of $175.5 million (about Sh370 billion).
A World Bank statement released yesterday showed that the $130 million was an addition to the $175.5 million initial amount of the project; of which $163 million was from the World Bank and $12.5 million was from Denmark.
The funds are for the seven strategically important cities of Tanga, Arusha, Mwanza, Kigoma, Dodoma, Mbeya and Mtwara, intended to enable them to keep up with the pace of rapid urbanisation.
The project, which initially was designed to be completed by December 2017, received some additional financing in 2014 to the tune of $50 million from the World Bank and $6 million from the Danish International Development Agency (Danida).
The current additional financing ought to cater for the project's essential objective of improving the quality of and access to basic urban services in the participating Local Government Authorities (LGAs).
The WB Country Director for Tanzania, Malawi, Somalia and Burundi, Ms Bella Bird, held that the improvement of services in Tanzania's medium-sized cities sought to provide a major boost to the success of the state's industrial sector.
"Improving services in Tanzania's medium-sized cities is critical to supporting the government's industrialisation goals," she said.
Ms Bird further asserted that the cities play a key role in strengthening broader regional development, to connect people with markets and provide the foundation to promote the growth of industries across the country.
"We have seen significant gains in terms of connectivity, service provision, and institutional capacity for urban management as a result of earlier investment through TSCP," she explained.
Source : allafrica.com
