Tanzanians To Benefit From World Bank’s Newly-Disbursed USD 450 Mn Investment

The Tanzanian government has received a USD 450 Mn loan from the World Bank which will be channeled to implement the third phase of the Tanzania Social Action Fund (Tasaf) project.

The program seeks to empower underprivileged homes to increase their income for the betterment of their lives and that of their kins.

TASAF collaborates with other key stakeholders to support community projects aimed at ensuring poverty is reduced.

The program has been in existence since 1999 when a pilot was conducted.

The project has been conducted in phases. The first phase of the project took place between 2000 – 2004 and a total of 1,704 social projects worth USD 32 Mn were executed. The Second Phase ran from 2005 to 2013 and during this phase, a total of 12,347 social projects worth USD 187 Mn were implemented.

“Following the success of both phases one and two, the government decided to implement a third phase that will run for 10 years starting August 2012 to 2023 in two phases,” the permanent secretary ministry of finance Dotto James said a while after signing the loan.

The fund recently disbursed for TASAF’s Third Phase will help enable poor households to boost their ability to produce. Through the new investment, households are encouraged to take part more in production work which in turn will boost their incomes and strengthen local economies.

“This phase we will ensure that we improve infrastructure in the education, health, water and investment sectors in order to develop children in key areas and most especially nutrition,” said James.

The program intends to implement projects that generate income for the locals so as to boost job creation.

Bella Bird World Bank’s country director said the investment will be disbursed to help the poor be able to better their living standards.

Featured Image Courtesy: Ezra Millstein/Mercy Corps