Finance and Planning ministry’s permanent secretary Dotto James and the European Union ambassador to Tanzania Manfredo Fanti (right) display documents after signing a Sh307.9bn worth MoU as aid for six projects to be funded through the 11th partnership programme, in Dodoma yesterday. PHOTO | COURTESY
Dodoma. The European Union yesterday signed a pact with the government of Tanzania to finance the
implementation of six projects that are expected to help create favourable environment for economic development and improve life.The government will receive to the tune of 111.5 million euros (Sh307.9 billion) in grants for the projects to be implemented in both Tanzania Mainland and Zanzibar, according to reports issued after signing of the agreement.
The two sides signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MouU) for the grant and the EU provided 23 million (Sh63.5 billion) as the first batch of the money.
The signing was done by Ministry of Finance’s permanent secretary Dotto James on behalf of the government and EU ambassador to Tanzania Manfredo Fanti on behalf of the EU Delegation.
Mr James said the funds were unconditional support and that they were provided because of existing good bilateral relations.
He said Tanzania had so far received about 2.394 billion Euros (Sh6.6 trillion) from the EU as grants and 270.9 million euros (Sh748.2 billion) as concessional loans from the European Investment Bank (EIB), since 1975 when the EU signed the first Partnership Agreement with the African and Caribbean States.
He said the funds had been a catalyst for economic development, various policy improvements, road infrastructure, aviation facilities, energy, agriculture and the environment and climate change.
He also mentioned the projects that will be implemented and their amount of money in brackets as the improvement of the energy sector (Sh96.7 billion), the integrated approach to sustainable domestic fuel solutions programme (Sh82 billion), beekeeping value chain programme (Sh27.6 billion), strengthening of plant health services for enhanced food safety (Sh27.6 billion), business environment, growth and innovation (63.5 billion), and technical cooperation facility-phase two (Sh9.7 billion).
According to him, the aid was aimed at addressing the needs and challenges identified in the national development plans including the second five-year development plan 2016/17 - 2020/2021. “EU is one of our key strategic partners in terms of supporting government efforts in achieving sustainable development. This is substantiated by the sizable financial supports that EU has extended to Tanzania,” he said.
Ambassador Fanti said his office will ensure that Tanzania finds a market for its products in the EU states, stressing that the country should aim at producing goods for international standards.
He said Tanzania’s relations with the EU will continue to be maintained as far as possible and called for the cooperation to be extended even in other sectors. “The new agreements we have signed today will address challenges in various sectors. They’ll stimulate inclusive climate change adaptation and mitigations,” he said.
The event was also witnessed by Ministry of Industry and Trade’s permanent secretary Prof Riziki Shemdoe who said the funds would improve the business environment, focusing primarily on areas of levies and business licences.
He said that there had been many complaints from traders about the levies and taxes with claims that they are not friendly.
“The government has been improving the environment for its businesses and we continue to reduce inconvenience to our people. So, this money will help significantly in achieving those goals,” he said.
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