WASHINGTON- The World Bank has approved two financing programmes for Tanzania totaling 775 million US dollars (equivalent to 1.8tri/-) to Support Inclusive and Resilient Economic Recovery and Improved Healthcare Services.
World Bank building at Washington DC. (Photo by Shiny Things - Flickr, CC BY 2.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=2390362).
According to the WB, the new International Development Association (IDA) financing consists of a 500 million US dollars credit for the first Tanzania Inclusive and Resilient Growth Development Policy Financing and a 250 US dollars million credit plus a 25 million US dollars grant for the Tanzania Maternal and Child Health Investment Programme.
The statement availed to the media said that, Tanzania has experienced a contraction of its tourism sector and a spike in import prices for fuel and other commodities in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine.
But, prudent macroeconomic management has allowed the country to weather the external shocks and minimise the erosion of hard-won development gains.
“Tanzania Inclusive and Resilient Growth Development Policy Financing is the first in a series of two operations to support policy and institutional reforms that are critical to unleashing private sector growth, increasing transparency, boosting Tanzania’s risk management capacity, and building economic resilience against future shocks driven by climate change and other external factors” reads part of the statement.
The WB Country Director for Tanzania, Nathan Belete said that his institution is putting its full support behind policies aimed to ensure a robust private sector-led recovery that will help the country reach its economic potential, while also making growth more inclusive and resilient to future shocks.
He further noted that, the second financing package of 275 million US dollars for the Tanzania Maternal and Child Health Investment Programme will help the country to improve the quality of essential healthcare services and scale up delivery.
“The package includes 250 million US dollars of Programme for Results (PforR) for Mainland and 25 million US dollars of Investment Project Financing (IPF) project for Zanzibar” he said.
Moreover, he said the programme is additionally funded by a grant of 25 million US dollars from the Global Financing Facility for Women, Children and Adolescents.
“The primary beneficiaries of this financing are women of reproductive age, adolescents, and children under the age of five, including newborns and infants (about 40 per cent of the total population), who will benefit from a package of high impact quality and cost-effective reproductive, maternal, newborn, child, adolescent health, and nutrition (RMNCAH-N) interventions.” he added.
On his part, the World Bank Regional Director for Strategy and Operations, Amit Dar said over the past two decades, Tanzania had significantly reduced the disease burden and improved health outcomes due to improvements in the control of major communicable diseases and vaccine preventable diseases.
“With this new financing, we hope to accelerate progress in areas where outcomes have been lagging in regard to the high maternal mortality, high fertility rate, the elevated newborn mortality and high rate of malnutrition.” Mr Amit said.
The World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA), established in 1960, helps the world’s poorest countries by providing grants and low to zero-interest loans for projects and programmes that boost economic growth, reduce poverty, and improve poor people’s lives.
IDA is one of the largest sources of assistance for the world’s 74 poorest countries, 39 of which are in Africa. Resources from IDA bring positive change to the 1.3 billion people who live in IDA countries.
Since 1960, IDA provided 496 billion US dollars to 114 countries. Annual commitments have increased steadily and averaged about 34.7 billion US dollars over the last three years (FY20-FY22), with about 70 per cent going to Africa.
According to the WB, the new International Development Association (IDA) financing consists of a 500 million US dollars credit for the first Tanzania Inclusive and Resilient Growth Development Policy Financing and a 250 US dollars million credit plus a 25 million US dollars grant for the Tanzania Maternal and Child Health Investment Programme.
The statement availed to the media said that, Tanzania has experienced a contraction of its tourism sector and a spike in import prices for fuel and other commodities in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic and the war in Ukraine.
But, prudent macroeconomic management has allowed the country to weather the external shocks and minimise the erosion of hard-won development gains.
“Tanzania Inclusive and Resilient Growth Development Policy Financing is the first in a series of two operations to support policy and institutional reforms that are critical to unleashing private sector growth, increasing transparency, boosting Tanzania’s risk management capacity, and building economic resilience against future shocks driven by climate change and other external factors” reads part of the statement.
The WB Country Director for Tanzania, Nathan Belete said that his institution is putting its full support behind policies aimed to ensure a robust private sector-led recovery that will help the country reach its economic potential, while also making growth more inclusive and resilient to future shocks.
He further noted that, the second financing package of 275 million US dollars for the Tanzania Maternal and Child Health Investment Programme will help the country to improve the quality of essential healthcare services and scale up delivery.
“The package includes 250 million US dollars of Programme for Results (PforR) for Mainland and 25 million US dollars of Investment Project Financing (IPF) project for Zanzibar” he said.
Moreover, he said the programme is additionally funded by a grant of 25 million US dollars from the Global Financing Facility for Women, Children and Adolescents.
“The primary beneficiaries of this financing are women of reproductive age, adolescents, and children under the age of five, including newborns and infants (about 40 per cent of the total population), who will benefit from a package of high impact quality and cost-effective reproductive, maternal, newborn, child, adolescent health, and nutrition (RMNCAH-N) interventions.” he added.
On his part, the World Bank Regional Director for Strategy and Operations, Amit Dar said over the past two decades, Tanzania had significantly reduced the disease burden and improved health outcomes due to improvements in the control of major communicable diseases and vaccine preventable diseases.
“With this new financing, we hope to accelerate progress in areas where outcomes have been lagging in regard to the high maternal mortality, high fertility rate, the elevated newborn mortality and high rate of malnutrition.” Mr Amit said.
The World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA), established in 1960, helps the world’s poorest countries by providing grants and low to zero-interest loans for projects and programmes that boost economic growth, reduce poverty, and improve poor people’s lives.
IDA is one of the largest sources of assistance for the world’s 74 poorest countries, 39 of which are in Africa. Resources from IDA bring positive change to the 1.3 billion people who live in IDA countries.
Since 1960, IDA provided 496 billion US dollars to 114 countries. Annual commitments have increased steadily and averaged about 34.7 billion US dollars over the last three years (FY20-FY22), with about 70 per cent going to Africa.