The Government of Tanzania has issued a Sh200 billion cheque to support youth and women, fulfilling one of its pledges within the first 100 days in office.
The event was held in Dodoma on February 5, 2026. The fund targets women and youth engaged in various sectors, including fisheries, arts, agriculture, start-ups, and other sectors. The fund will be coordinated by the newly formed Ministry of Youth, headed by Joel Nanauka.
“We were receiving concerns about the funds that were coming from the 4-4-2 fund, where the money was remaining undistributed and not reaching the intended beneficiaries,” Prime Minister Mwigulu Nchemba said.
He continued: “We changed the system of disbursing funds through our local councils to prevent the money from going to groups that were not targeted, to activities that were not intended, and to fictitious (ghost) groups. Now, His Excellency the President does not intend for this money to go to ghost groups.”
The Ministry of Youth later reported the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with CRDB Bank Foundation to manage the Youth Development Fund.
In his speech, the Prime Minister explained that sectoral programs would continue and that the funds would target projects within those sectors, while the Ministry would remain only as a coordinating body.
The government also hinted at reviewing the requirements for issuing funds to groups and reconsidering the issuance of funds to individuals.
This is not the first time the government has introduced a program that uses banks for fund distribution. During the Fourth Phase Government, what was known as Mabilioni ya JK (JK Billions), funds were issued through banks, but most of the money went unrecovered, with various reports indicating laxity in the disbursement process.
Learning from this past experience, the Prime Minister issued a warning. “There have been other previous “windows” (funding rounds/programs) that resulted in negative outcomes: a window would be announced, funds would be released, and there would be no results at all,” Prime Minister Nchemba argued.
He emphasized: “Even for this current one, success is not simply about distributing the money until it is finished; success is for the funds to go to people who have programs that will change people’s lives.”
It is expected that several other banks will also be involved in the distribution of the funds.
