Dar es Salaam. Good morning! The Chanzo is here with a rundown of major news stories reported in Tanzania on Thursday, November 29, 2022.

Tanzania Government debt hits Tshs.71.98 trillion

The Central Government Debt stock of the United Republic of Tanzania stood at 71.98 trillion shillings (USD 31,188.07 million) at the end of September 2022. About Tsh.25.54 trillion shillings equivalent to 35.5 percent is domestic  debt and  46.44 trillion shillings equivalent to 64.51 percent is external debt.

The latest figures released by the Ministry of Finance shows that the debt has increased by 8.34 trillion shillings equivalent to a 13.01 percent increase compared to the period ending September 2021. This increase has been associated with government commitment to finance development projects.

The critical challenge that faces Tanzania at the moment is the dwindling of its foreign exchange reserve resulting from the shocks brought by the Ukraine-Russia war. Tanzania foreign exchange reserve by September 2022, stood at USD 4.9 billion sufficient to cover 4.2 months of import.

Due to the increased cost of import of fuel and fertilizers Tanzania’s current account has recorded a deficit of USD 1.7  billion between July 2022 and September 2022, compared to a deficit of USD 331.3 million during the same period last year.

While export of goods and services had a modest increase to USD 3.4 billion from USD 2.7 billion. Import of good and services has increased by 69 percent to USD 5 billion recorded between July 2022 and September 2022, from 2.9 billion recorded in 2021.

This means increased stress to Tanzania in meeting its debt obligation as well as its import demand.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) report published in early August 2022 mentioned that Tanzania’s risk of external debt distress remains moderate. The IMF suggests that the government should revamp revenue mobilization and investment projects which have socio-economic payoffs in order to maintain fiscal and debt sustainability.

UN: We are not on track to end AIDS by 2030 due to inequalities

UNAIDS Executive Director Winnie Byanyima said that the world is not on track to end the AIDS pandemic by 2030 due to inequality. This was during the launching of the UNAIDS report Dangerous Inequality which was launched yesterday in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

“Adolescent girls and young women (aged 15 to 24 years) are three times more likely to be infected with HIV than boys and men of the same age group in sub-Saharan Africa,” said UNAIDS Executive Director Winnie Byanyima.

“The driving factor behind this is inequality, if we can enable our girls to stay in school until they complete secondary education this will reduce their vulnerability to HIV infection by up to 50 percent” explained Ms. Byanyima.

In response to this worrying trend about 12 African countries have come together in an initiative called education plus supported by United Nations to ensure this inequality is curbed. “We hope that Tanzania will join this initiative soon,” said Ms. Byanyima.

While there are about 1.7 million people living with HIV in Tanzania, the HIV prevalence rate is higher for women aged 15 to 49 at 5.7 percent compared to men aged 15 to 49 which stands at 3.2 percent.

“Here in Tanzania, 87 percent of adults living with HIV are on treatment this is remarkable,” said Ms. Byanyima, but only 60 percent of children who are living with HIV are on treatment, there is a gap” added Ms. Byanyima.

UNAIDS has also taken a moment to encourage the global community to increase resources on health support citing that the Ukraine crisis has made some rich countries think of reducing resources committed to global health programs.

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