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AfDB pledges more support for Tanzania

Xinhua, February 16, 2017 Adjust font size:

The African Development Bank (AfDB) on Wednesday pledged to continue supporting Tanzania's development projects by providing loans with low-interest rates.

Amadou Hott, AfDB Vice-President in-charge of power, energy, climate and green growth, made the pledge when he met with Tanzania's Finance and Planning Minister Phillip Mpango.

The bank official said that the bank will support Tanzania in different ways including the country's industrialization agenda.

Hott said that his bank has allocated 12 billion U.S. dollars to support African countries including Tanzania so that they improve their economies as well as fighting against climate change.

The senior bank official said energy improvement is his priority in Tanzania, particularly ensuring that state-run power utility firm (TANESCO) becomes free from huge debts, making it able to focus on providing competitive services for the country's economic benefits.

"Our interest is to ensure that TANESCO provide reliable and affordable power, which will stimulate the country's economy," the AfDB official said.

He also revealed the African bank has come up with a new strategy of encouraging the effective use of sustainable power in an effort to reduce the use of charcoal and firewood as a source of cooking energy.

He said that the move is also meant to save trees and forests in the continent and Tanzania in particular.

According to Hott, the bank is interested in financing projects which are encouraging the use of sustainable energy in urban and rural areas.

Mpango hailed the role played by the AfDB in improving road infrastructures in the country, asking the bank to extend the support into the standard gauge railway line construction, the project which intends to improve transport of passengers and cargo in the Great Lakes Region. Endit