Africa-Press – Tanzania. TANZANIA is set to blossom in the areas of infrastructure, employment opportunities and improving the learning environment following the approval of 2tri/- (875m US dollars) by the World Bank (WB) on Thursday.
According to a statement released by the WB, the support aims at expanding access to opportunities and services, especially for women and youths.
The support has been extended from the International Development Association (IDA). The 2tri/- support will help the country to improve rural road access and employment opportunities and strengthen the learning environment.
The WB states that 695bn/- (300m US dollars) is directed to the Roads to Inclusion and Socioeconomic Opportunities project (RISE), which is designed to enable Tanzanians in rural areas access roads in good condition and allow them to access services and economic opportunities.
The project will also generate around 35,000 civil works jobs, including 19,000 community-based routine maintenance contracts involving rural communities, with at least 20 per cent of these jobs held by women.
“The project will also assist in laying the foundation for a greater level of ambition for inclusive sustainable rural road asset management in the country,” reads part of the statement.
RISE will upgrade roads with climate resilient approaches in six rural districts across four regions, which are Geita, Tanga, Lindi and Iringa. On education, at least 985 bn/- (425m US dollars) will be channeled to Higher Education for Economic Transformation project (HEET), with focus on strengthening the learning environment, ensuring greater alignment of priority degree programmes to labour market needs, and improve management of the higher education system.
HEET is set to achieve its objective by strengthening and building the capacity of 14 public higher education institutions in both Mainland and Zanzibar to become high quality centers of learning and enhance management of the higher education system through the Ministry of Education, Science and Technology, and subsidiary agencies.
The project is expected to benefit over 100,000 students and will modernise over 260 academic programmes among participating universities.
Moreover, the WB states that 367bn/- will be directed to the Digital Tanzania Project (DTP)for increasing access to high quality broadband internet services for government, businesses, and citizens, and improve the government’s capacity to deliver digital public services.
By the end of DTP’s implementation, more than 75 percent of Tanzania’s population will be covered by a mobile broadband network signal with 3G or higher, some 425 government ministries, departments and agencies will benefit from broadband internet service and a minimum of 40 percent of citizens aged 15 and above will be able to use the internet.
According to the WB, the number of monthly transactions accessing a public service via internet or a mobile phone will increase from 200,000 to at least 500,000. The Regional Vice President for the WB, Hafez Ghanem said the approval of three projects reflects the WB’s strong support to Tanzania, saying the bank is also focusing on strengthening partnership with the largest East African country.
“We want to continue and even strengthen our partnership with Tanzania in its efforts to fight poverty and ensure a better living standard for its people. Investments supported by the three projects will help accelerate growth as they expand access to economic opportunities, especially for women and youth,” he said in a statement released on Thursday.
On her side, the WB Country Director, Ms Mara Warwick said the experiences of successfully transitioning economies have shown that strong human capital is fundamental for long-term growth and the development of an economically secure middle class.
She said: “these projects prioritize such investments, which will enable households at all income levels in Tanzania to benefit from growth,” IDA is one of the largest sources of assistance for the world’s 76 poorest countries, 39 of which are in Africa.
Resources from IDA bring positive change to the 1.6 billion people who live in IDA countries. Since 1960, IDA has supported development work in 113 countries. Annual commitments have averaged about 21bn US dollars over the last three years, with about 61 percent going to Africa.
