Banks engaged in mission to renovate, build Tanzania embasies 

Dar es Salaam. Tanzania has decided to engage financial institutions to construct and renovate embassy buildings for consular activities and investment purposes.

Tanzania’s foreign missions own 108 buildings, 47 of which should be comprehensively renovated and nine more total overhauled because they are in a pretty bad shape to the extent of tarnishing the country’s image.

The Parliament was told yesterday that the ministry of Foreign Affairs is in talks with at least three institutions, including two commercial banks and a pension fund.

Tabling a report in the august House the chairman of the parliamentary standing committee on Foreign Affairs, Defense and Security, Vita Kawawa (Namtumbo - CCM) said his committee has learnt that discussions between the government and NMB Bank Plc, CRDB Bank Plc and with the National Social Security Fund (NSSF) for possible joint ventures in developing the properties in various countries were at advanced stages.

The partnership has been necessitated by the fact that the development budget of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation is inadequate.

In the past five financial years, from 2017/2018 to 2021/2022, the ministry received only 19 per cent of the Sh48.5 billion that it had requested for the development budget.

“Going by the information from the ministry of Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation, the funds set aside by the government for the construction of the Ambassador’s offices and investment property is very little,” said Mr Kawawa in Dodoma when he was tabling report on the committee’s activities for the year ending January, 2023 (from February, 2022 to January, 2023).

“With the government funds, it would take 15 years to complete one building,” he said.

But by cooperating with other public and private sector organisations, we will expedite the execution of the projects,” he added.

During the first half of the current financial year the ministry has received no single cent for the development projects.

“This is adversely impacting on the renovation of buildings for the ambassador’s office, servants’ residents and on development of buildings for investments,” reads a part of the Committee’s report.

Tanzania also owns 11 undeveloped plots that are strategically located in various countries.

The ministry is currently implementing five projects that consist of six buildings for consular and commercial purposes in five countries.

The projects include the construction of a 17 storey building in Kinshasa for consular and commercial purposes, developing a 22 storey twin towers building in Nairobi for Tanzania’s diplomatic mission in Kenya. The twin towers would also serve as a commercial building. .

Other projects are the construction of a consular and residential property in Muscat, Oman, an eight storey investment building in Moroni, Comoro and renovation of the former embassy building in Washington.

The ministry, according to the committee, has also completed the architectural designs of 14 other buildings.