Dar es Salaam. Good morning! The Chanzo is here with a rundown of major news stories reported in Tanzania on Wednesday, September 28, 2022.
New World Bank loan to strengthen Dar’s climate change adaptation, resilience
The World Bank Board of Executive Directors has approved a new loan to Tanzania that will help the East African nation reduce the flood exposure of over 300,000 people, including many low-income communities while providing access to better infrastructure and services, a statement released Wednesday stated.
The loan will also help transform a flood-prone area in the centre of the city into a vibrant green space and commercial and residential area that will benefit all residents of Dar es Salaam.
The World Bank statement also said that thanks to the loan, users of the city’s Bus Rapid Transit system and other commuters will benefit from fewer traffic disruptions from floods during the rainy season through the implementation of the new Msimbazi Basin Development Project, financed in the amount of $200 million by the International Development Association (IDA).
Preeti Arora, Acting World Bank Country Director for Tanzania, said in a statement that harnessing urbanization to promote economic growth and job creation is a priority in the bank’s Country Partnership Framework for Tanzania.
“Despite its critical role as an engine of growth for the nation, Dar es Salaam’s business environment is negatively impacted by the unplanned nature of its growth, limited urban services, and the vulnerability of settlements and critical infrastructure to climate-related hazards,” the statement quoted Arora as saying. “This new support will help transform the city into a more efficient metropolitan area.”
With an estimated six million inhabitants, Dar es Salaam accounts for 40 per cent of Tanzania’s total urban population and 17 per cent of the national GDP, according to figures from the World Bank.
Growing at a rate of 5.6 per cent annually, Dar es Salaam is projected to become a megacity with a population of more than 10 million by 2030, the bank said. Formal planning has not kept pace with the city’s population growth, it warns.
An estimated 70 per cent of development in the city is informal and unaccompanied by service extensions, leaving the booming urban population with infrastructure systems designed for a much smaller city, the bank explains.
John Morton, World Bank Senior Urban Specialist, said in the statement that given Dar es Salaam’s flat topography and limited drainage network, nearly every rainy season brings flooding and the area near the lower Msimbazi river is most affected.
“This has become increasingly severe over the past decade due to rapid and unplanned growth, which has led to higher flood intensity and more people moving to flood-prone areas,” the statement quotes Morton as saying.
“The project is designed to be resilient to this rapid urbanization and anticipated impacts of climate change through a flood prevention approach that reduces the impacts on mobility, property, health, livelihoods, and economic development,” he added.
Qatari firm establishes subsidiary in Tanzania to export meat to the Middle Eastern nation
Widam Food Company, the main supplier of meat and livestock in Qatar, has announced the start of procedures for establishing Widam Tanzania Company that will specialise in trading and exporting meat to the Qatari market and the region, according to a report by the Gulf Times.
The website quoted the company’s chairman Mohamed al-Sada expressing his happiness to establish Widam Tanzania, saying their entry into the East African nation will help Qataris buy meat products at competitive prices.
Al-Sada also indicated that the new company’s imports of meat will contribute to covering the growing demand locally and supporting the state’s food security, in light of the inflation witnessed by meat prices worldwide.
Also, the establishment of Widam Tanzania aims at enhancing meat import operations from global meat-exporting countries to Qatar and the region, such as the Republic of Tanzania, whose products have witnessed a growth and popularity in their sales in the recent period, due to their quality and competitive prices, the chairman added.
Widam has expanded its import network, which has now reached 25 countries around the world, with the aim of diversifying import sources to provide the best products at the lowest cost to serve consumers.
In addition, Widam Tanzania will work on supplying sheep and veal meat to Qatar, and the presence of a branch of the company in Tanzania will allow it to monitor the quality of products and processes to ensure compliance with specifications.
Widam has already supplied shipments of Tanzanian meat to the local market since the beginning of the last year.
Widam supplies meat to a number of Arab countries such as Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Iraq, Oman and Jordan.
Majaliwa: Tourists visiting Tanzania rose 48.6pc from 620,867 in 2020 to 922,692 in 2021
Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa said Wednesday that the number of foreign tourists visiting Tanzania rose 48.6 per cent from 620,867 in 2020 to 922,692 in 2021.
Majaliwa revealed the latest figures when he opened the 65th Conference for World Tourism Organization (UNWTO) Regional Commission for Africa in the northern city of Arusha, according to a statement by the Prime Minister’s Office.
He said the rise in foreign tourist arrivals has seen tourism earnings increasing by 81.8 per cent from 714.59 million U.S. dollars in 2020 to 1.3 billion dollars in 2021.
The prime minister said the government has put in place a mega tourism strategy aimed at increasing the number of foreign tourist arrivals to 5 million by 2025 which will earn the country 6 billion U.S. dollars by 2025.
The conference will be followed by a forum on the theme — Rebuilding Africa’s Tourism Resilience for Inclusive Socio-Economic Development, said the statement.
Zurab Pololikashvili, the UNWTO secretary-general, pledged that his organization will work hard in supporting member countries in recovering from the COVID-19 pandemic that heavily affected the tourism industry.
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