{"id":150716,"date":"2026-04-12T16:17:44","date_gmt":"2026-04-12T16:17:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/tanzania\/all-news\/regional-development-urban-planning-key-to-boost-africas-economy"},"modified":"2026-04-12T17:39:55","modified_gmt":"2026-04-12T17:39:55","slug":"regional-development-urban-planning-key-to-boost-africas-economy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/tanzania\/all-news\/regional-development-urban-planning-key-to-boost-africas-economy","title":{"rendered":"Regional development, urban planning key to boost Africa\u2019s economy"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span class=\"ap-article-header-tag\"> <strong>Africa-Press &#8211; Tanzania. <\/strong> <\/span>TANZANIA has underscored the importance of integrating regional development, urban planning and infrastructure as critical drivers of economic growth and regional integration across Africa.<\/p>\n<p>Speaking during a technical session held alongside the 2nd Africa Urban Forum in Nairobi, Kenya, Minister for Lands, Housing and Human Settlements Development, Dr Leonard Akwilapo, said development corridors play a pivotal role in facilitating trade, improving transportation and linking landlocked countries to global markets.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cTanzania has been at the forefront of developing regional corridors since the 1970s.<\/p>\n<p>These efforts have significantly contributed to the growth of both the national economy and the wider East and Central African region,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<p>Dr Akwilapo noted that the Central Corridor remains a key transport backbone, connecting the Port of Dar es Salaam to Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo through an integrated network of railways, roads and inland waterways.<\/p>\n<p>He further highlighted that rapid urbanisation has led to increased demand for infrastructure and essential services, with transport needs rising fourfold over the past two decades.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIn response, the government has scaled up investment in infrastructure and urban planning to meet these growing demands,\u201d he explained.<\/p>\n<p>The minister added that strategic assets such as the Port of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania Railways Corporation (TRC) and the TAZARA railway continue to drive regional trade, while maritime transport across the Great Lakes has strengthened economic ties among neighbouring countries.<\/p>\n<p>Dr Akwilapo also reaffirmed the government\u2019s commitment to implementing the National Development Vision 2050, which focuses on improving infrastructure and housing while promoting private sector participation through public-private partnerships.<\/p>\n<p>In his concluding remarks, he called on African countries to strengthen regional cooperation, enhance urban planning and invest in infrastructure.<\/p>\n<p class=\"ap-article-footer-note\">Find more news and analyses on <span class=\"ap-highlight-country\">Tanzania<\/span> on the <span class=\"ap-highlight-brand\">Africa Press<\/span> website<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Africa-Press &#8211; Tanzania. TANZANIA has underscored the importance of integrating regional development, urban planning and infrastructure as critical drivers of economic growth and regional integration across Africa. Speaking during a technical session held alongside the 2nd Africa Urban Forum in Nairobi, Kenya, Minister for Lands, Housing and Human Settlements Development, Dr Leonard Akwilapo, said development [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":150715,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,5],"tags":[711],"class_list":["post-150716","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-economy","tag-tanzania"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v26.1 (Yoast SEO v27.0) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-premium-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>Regional development, urban planning key to boost Africa\u2019s economy - Tanzania<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"-article-header-tag&quot;&gt; Africa-Press - Tanzania. TANZANIA has underscored the i ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/tanzania\/all-news\/regional-development-urban-planning-key-to-boost-africas-economy\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Regional development, urban planning key to boost Africa\u2019s economy\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"-article-header-tag&quot;&gt; Africa-Press - Tanzania. 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