How Tanzania plans to spend Sh1.5 trillion Euro grant
What you need to know:
- Tanzania is among African countries that will benefit from a new project dubbed the Global Gateway Investment Package, which will tackle unemployment, healthcare, education, blue economy and other challenges
Dar es Salaam. The government has revealed how it plans to use a grant of 425 million euros (about Sh1.15 trillion) from the European Commission to support various development projects over three years.
The President of the European Commission (EC), Ms Ursula von der Leyen, announced on Friday the development assistance during a meeting with President Samia Suluhu Hassan, who is on an official visit to Belgium.
A statement from the director of Presidential Communications, Zuhura Yunus, noted that the government had set aside 180 million euros (around Sh480 billion) of the grant for three different projects, including strengthening digitisation in the country.
This comes at a time when the government’s efforts to strengthen various sectors digitally, including education, are already underway and now the support will be in accelerating such digital strategies in all key sectors.
“A Sh284 billion funding package will be used to enhance gender equality, while more than Sh197 billion will finance the first phase of a ‘Green Cities’ project in Tanga, Mwanza and Pemba regions,” it states in part. Ms Von der Leyen, also the statement notes, informed President Hassan that Tanzania is among African countries that will benefit from a new project dubbed the Global Gateway Investment Package, which will tackle unemployment, healthcare, education, blue economy and other challenges.
For her part, President Hassan vowed to continue working with the European Commission to implement projects and programmes aimed at improving the lives of Tanzanians.
Meanwhile, this seems to be a continuation of a new beginning, according to experts. Tanzania secured about $3 billion in loans in the first nine months of President Hassan’s leadership in 2021, with commentators attributing this to improved relations with development partners.
The amount includes concessional loans and relief funds obtained from the World Bank (WB), the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and the African Development Bank (AfDB).
The World Bank alone approved over $2.29 billion for different projects in the country. This includes the $500 million Boost Primary Student Learning Program; $150 million Land Tenure Improvement Project (LTIP), and $500 million for the Tanzania Secondary Education Quality Improvement Project.
“This support from the European Commission is just a continuation of a healthy relationship that returns over time. We have no doubts about the use of the funds because we have seen the President’s good intentions for this country,” says Dr Modest Mnkeni, an economist based in Dar es Salaam.
