World Bank Group continues to demonstrate its support to Africa with multi-million financial investment.
World Bank Group has injected over $500 into various projects to be implemented in Tanzania.
According to World Bank’s Country Director Bella Bird said the financial institution’s fund aid to Tanzania is approaching its final stages. The development bank should finalize the injection of $593 million into the economy to prop up educational projects in the nursery and secondary level.
The gross enrollment rate in primary education is 93% for both girls and boys combined in Tanzania according to Education Policy Data Center. Last year, however over 40 percent of adolescents could not access quality lower-secondary education.
During her meeting with Tanzania President John Pombe Magufuli, she reminded the Head of State of other projects the financial institution is funding in the country worth $4 billion. World Bank has supported Tanzania’s growth through policy analysis, grants, and credits, with a focus on infrastructure and the private sector to boost economic performance.
Their meeting entailed discussion on the progress of the development projects overseen by World Bank in the country. The World Bank Group’s current portfolio in Tanzania includes 25 operations with a commitment of nearly $3.95 billion, most of which is allocated to transport, according to its website. Since the kick off of the new year 2018, two projects are currently ongoing.
Development support for Tanzania statistics is an active project with an initial cost of $8.56 million for the statistics sector approved in August. Sustainable Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Program is a six-year operation that aims to increase access to rural water supply and sanitation services. It has a total cost of $740 million and has a commitment cost of $350 million.
Tanzania’s latest GDP was $47.333 billion in 2016. Its annual GDP growth for the year 2018 is 6.597, a slight increase from the previous year recorded at 6.362. The nation still has the potential to stir its performance with the country’s industrialization dream to become a middle-income economy by 2025, an initiative driven by the President.
The World Bank approved a $455 million credit under its International Development Assistance (IDA) programme to the financing of power projects and construction of high voltage transmission infrastructure to connect Tanzania to regional power markets in southern and eastern Africa.
Tanzania expects to reap close to $5 billion annually in gas exports revenue through the proposed liquefied natural gas project boasting of around 57 trillion cubic feet (tcf) of proven but undeveloped natural gas reserves. The construction of the Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) plant will commence in 2022 as announced earlier by the Energy minister.
The World Bank’s purpose for economic development and poverty elimination has stirred its vision to help African economies that are avidly affected by such barrier. Their financial inclusions have drawn potential investors to their business environments in search of investment opportunities to carry the dream along and ease the burden on the African governments.
Source: The Exchange
