How Tanzania plans to spend Sh690 billion from World Bank

Dar es Salaam. The government’s efforts to expand water supply, sanitation and hygiene services have received a major boost after the World Bank approved an additional $300 million (about Sh690 billion) to finance a project that seeks to improve the services.

Access to clean and safe water in rural areas is estimated to have improved from 70.1 percent in 2020 to 74.5 percent in 2022 while that of urban areas improved from 84 percent to 86.5 percent, according to government statistics.

The World Bank said in a statement that up to 10 million Tanzanians will gain access to improved water supply and nine million to better sanitation facilities through the new financing.

The new $300 million International Development Association (IDA) credit and a $4.9 million Energy Sector Management Assistance Programme (ESMAP) grant for the Sustainable Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Programme (SRWSSP) will support the programme’s expansion from 86 district councils in 17 regions to 137 district councils in 25 regions.

It will enable up to 1,850 public primary schools and 2,600 healthcare facilities to be reached with improved sanitation and hygiene facilities.

The funding will also support a pilot of 206 water schemes that will be built under public-private arrangements.

“We are encouraged by the results of the original financing for the programme through which more than 3.3 million people managed to access  water and significant advancement in sanitation access for households, schools and healthcare facilities,” said the World Bank country director for Tanzania, Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe, Mr Nathan Belete.

“These services are boosting human capital and social inclusion as they help to free up women’s time for productive ventures, while also improving students performance,” he added.

The original credit of $350 million for the SRWSSP was approved in June 2018, with the objective of increasing access to rural water supply and sanitation services in participating districts and strengthening the capacity of select sector institutions to sustain service delivery.

The implementation of the programme began in 2019 by supporting the establishment of the Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Agency (Ruwasa), as a specialised rural water services delivery agency, mandated to ensure the sustainability of services.

The implementation is led by the ministry of Water in close coordination with Ruwasa, the ministry of Education, Science and Technology, the ministry of Health and the President’s Office–Regional Administration and Local Governments.

“The speed and magnitude of results that have been achieved by the parent programme can be attributed to several factors, with the most important one being the establishment of Ruwasa,” said the World Bank senior water supply and sanitation specialist, Ms Ruth Kennedy-Walker.

“This institutional reform has provided the needed focus on service delivery and sustainability of water supply, leading to improved staffing capacity, improved processes and guidance for service delivery and improved availability and accuracy of real-time data on access and sustainability,” she added.

The additional financing supports the government’s ambitious Water Sector Development Programme (WSDP) phase three, which was launched in 2022 and runs to 2025.

The phase has three specific targets including connecting 9.7 million people to new water supply and 3.87 million people to rehabilitated water points.

It also aims at providing basic water, sanitation and hygiene (Wash) infrastructure to 1,500 health centre facilities and 2,800 primary schools through rehabilitation, and 2,000 health facilities and 1,000 primary schools through new infrastructure. The WSDP phase three also aims to reach 95 percent of the target population through social behaviour change communication campaign, in addition to ensuring all primary schools are supported with emergency sanitary materials, which are critical for school retention of adolescent girls.

The government said it is now shifting to concessional loans which have less cost of borrowing.

The World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA), established in 1960, helps the world’s poorest countries by providing grants and low to zero-interest loans for projects and programmes that boost economic growth, reduce poverty, and improve poor people’s lives.

In October, this year, the World Bank approved $200 million (Sh460 billion) through IDA financing to help reduce the flood exposure of over 300,000 people in Dar es Salaam, including many low-income communities, while providing access to better infrastructure and services.