Dar es Salaam. Good morning! The Chanzo is here with a rundown of major news stories reported in Tanzania on Tuesday, February 28, 2023.
Govt, World Bank sign two new financing agreements
The government on Tuesday entered into new finance agreements with the World Bank that will see the latter providing the necessary financing needed for Tanzania to improve its sanitation programs and improving the quality of essential healthcare services.
The agreements were signed at the Ministry of Finance and Planning’s office in Dar es Salaam and it was witnessed by World Bank country director Nathan Belete and Minister of Finance and Planning Mwigulu Nchemba, among other dignitaries.
Signed on Tuesday, the Maternal and Child Health Investment Program seeks to support Tanzania’s efforts to improve the quality of essential healthcare services and scale up their delivery, with a focus on maternal and child health.
The program is financed by a $250 million credit from the International Development Association and a $25 million grant from the Global Financing Facility.
It focuses on the five most critical areas to improve maternal and child health: Maternal and Child Health Services; Human Resources for Health; Emergency and Referral Services; Health Facility Performance and Functionality; and Management and Accountability.
The Maternal and Child Health Investment Program will also support Zanzibar and it will be the first IDA-supported investment in the health sector in the Isles.
It will scale up the provision of maternal and child health and nutrition services as well as strengthen health systems across the country by improving health infrastructure, enhancing the capacity of human resources for health, improving referral and critical care services, and supporting the procurement of essential MCH commodities and medical equipment, and digitalizing health services.
It is expected that at the end of the program, 100 per cent of dispensaries in the country will have at least two qualified/skilled health providers (nurse or midwife and clinician). This will be achieved through comprehensive capacity-strengthening initiatives.
It is also expected that the Health Basket Fund will support the delivery of maternal and child health services to all public healthcare facilities. Key indicators include 44.6 per cent of family planning clients accessing modern contraceptive methods and 96 per cent of newborns receiving postnatal care within 48 hours after delivery.
The World Bank also expects that at the end of the program’s implementation, 15 regions will establish and operationalize systems for the management of referrals and emergencies for maternal and child emergency services, with at least 10,000 emergency and referral cases managed by the Regional Referral Hospitals through dispatch system established by the project.
Also, 25 council hospitals, 50 health centres and 100 dispensaries will be refurbished and equipped, and become functional, performing basic and comprehensive functions for emergency obstetric and newborn care.
Tanzania and the World Bank also signed the Financing Agreement for the Tanzania Sustainable Rural Water Supply and Sanitation Program – Additional Financing whose completion is expected to guarantee that up to 10 million citizens will gain access to improved water supply and nine million to improved sanitation facilities.
Also, up to 2,500 healthcare facilities and over 1,600 primary schools will be provided with adequate sanitation and hygiene services.
The World Bank also hopes that the additional financing will further strengthen program implementation—for example, the adherence to standard designs for infrastructure—and raise the bar for RUWASA’s operations by incentivizing the agency to provide sustainable services, focused on operation and maintenance needs for both water supply and sanitation, and to pilot public-private partnership models in the sector.
Tanzania wants Starlink to set up an office in the country to receive operational approvals
anzania Minister of Information, Communication, and Information Technology, Nape Nnauye said that Starlink is required to set a physical office in the country as well as share its data protection plan before receiving operational approvals.
Mr Nnauye was speaking during an interview with a Tanzania newspaper, Nipashe, “Elon Musk wants to provide internet service here using Satelite but they [Stalink] did not have the plan to set up an office here” explained Nape in a shared video which has generated a heated debate on social media.
“If there is any fault would the Tanzania customer call the office in the US to ask for assistance?” asked Nape as he was explaining why it is important for Stalink to have a physical office. In addition, the Minister explained that there was no data protection plan in the Starlink application, “these providers collect a lot of information we must know where the data is going,” emphasized Mr. Nnauye.
Starlink has been a trending topic in Tanzania since February 05, 2023, when Elon Musk said that they were waiting for the Tanzania government’s approval to launch Stalink in the country.
Speaking about the entry of Starlink in the country one official from Vodacom, a mobile network with the largest market share was quoted saying that Starlink’s entry in Tanzania is not a threat but an opportunity for partnership, this was with anticipation that Starlink will need to have a local partner for operation.
In Africa, Starlink is operational in Rwanda, Nigeria, Mayotte, and Reunion islands and has so far has received approvals to operate in Malawi and Mozambique. In 2023, Starlink has projected to start operation in several African countries including Kenya, Zambia, DRC Congo, Angola among others.
Responding to users on social media, Mr. Nnauye explained that this is the requirement of the law and insisted that if Starlink is facing any challenges in meeting the requirement they should inform Tanzania government.
Lately, Tanzania’s tax laws have recognized electronic services companies without a physical presence in the country. In the Finance Act, 2022, which introduced digital tax, companies providing various electronic services in Tanzania but without a physical office can now register and pay tax.
Chinese company set to acquire 100pc interest in lithium project in Tanzania
A Chinese mineral company, China Dongsheng International, Inc. (CDSG), has announced that it has entered into an agreement with Kilimanjaro Lithium Inc., a private corporation, whereby the former will have the exclusive right to earn up to a 100 per cent interest in several Prospecting Licences (PLs) that make up two large projects in Tanzania.
In a statement, the company said that the acquisition would give it an international presence, along with its domestic presence, as CDSG holds the West End Lithium project that sits fully within the boundaries of the Tonopah Lithium Claims (TLC) Project of American Lithium Corp (V.LI), a project that currently holds the largest U.S lithium carbonate equivalent (LCE) resource.
CDSG said in the statement it is fully committed to supplying critical minerals to support the U.S led efforts in creating strong support for the North American battery supply chain.
“Representing a generational opportunity for investors, this momentous switch to a less carbon-intense economy is expected to exponentially expand the market for several critical minerals in this decade,” the company said.
CDSG will acquire an immediate 80 per cent interest in the PL’s by issuing 133 million common shares (at a deemed value of $6,650,000), it said in a statement.
After CDSG has attained this initial 80 per cent ownership, the company shall be responsible for exploration and development expenditures and shall make cash payments totalling $350,000.00 over the next nine months.
To attain the final 20 per cent interest in the Properties, CDSG will make further payments of $1,000,000 for each additional five per cent interest for the full 100 per cent interest for an aggregate payment of $4,000,000 of additional payments, the company said.
A three per cent Net Smelter Return (“NSR”) on the production of the Properties has been retained by the Licensor, however, CDSG has the exclusive right to purchase up to two per cent of the NSR for $1,000,000 per one per cent, for an aggregate of up to $2,000,000.
Yamaha begins trials for last-mile delivery business in Tanzania
Yamaha Motor Co announced on Tuesday today that its group company, CourieMate Co., has signed a collaborative agreement with Tokyo-based Wassha Co, a startup developing businesses in Africa, to commercialise a last-mile delivery business in Tanzania.
Based on the agreement, the two companies are proceeding with real-world proof-of-concept (PoC) testing in the country, the statement said.
CourieMate operates a last-mile delivery business in Uganda, and through this endeavour, the company has gained the IT systems know-how and expertise necessary for running last-mile delivery services.
Wassha is a startup running an Energy as a Service (EaaS) business through retail stores called kiosks. Since its founding in 2013, it has conducted business in Tanzania, Uganda, Mozambique, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, and has a range of knowledge and expertise, such as member store management and smartphone app payment operations.
“CourieMate and Wassha have been furthering their individual businesses while sharing their respective knowledge on logistics services and more that they have learned in Uganda,” according to the statement.
“This collaborative agreement is aimed at leveraging the two companies’ track records to quickly launch a last-mile delivery business in Tanzania. Yamaha Motor has also previously invested in Wassha in 2019 and 2022,” it added.
In the new Medium-Term Management Plan (2022-2024) announced in 2022, Yamaha Motor designated several ‘New Businesses’ and ‘Growth Businesses’ as ‘Strategic Business Fields’. As part of managing its business portfolio, it “will actively allocate management resources to these businesses in order to develop them into future core businesses.”
Mobility services fall under the plan’s ‘New Business Fields’, and Yamaha Motor states it “is working to create an environment for further enriching people’s lives through mobility asset management that calls on the company’s motorcycle business expertise, thereby helping address societal issues such as job creation.
In the last-mile delivery business, Yamaha Motor aims to energize the local economy and help create jobs for professional riders by offering motorcycle-based logistics services.
Australia-based Strandline unlocks value of assets in Tanzania
Australia-based mineral exploration company Strandline Resources has completed the re-issuance of its portfolio of mineral sands Prospecting Licences in Tanzania to Nyati Mineral Sands, refreshing their tenure term and conditions, Mining Review reported on Tuesday.
Nyati is a strategic joint venture between Strandline (84 per cent) and the Government of Tanzania (16 per cent). The reissuance of licences has been completed in accordance with the Framework Agreement between the parties.
“This is a key step on the path to unlocking the enormous value of these world-class mineral sands projects,” Mining Review quoted Strandline Managing Director Luke Graham as saying.
“The successful assignment of tenure paves the way for the joint venture to accelerate a host of exploration and development activities in Tanzania as part of the Company’s growth strategy,” he added.
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One Response
“1,600 primary schools will be provided with adequate sanitation and hygiene services”
Do we really need foreign loans to build toilets for our primary schools? REALLY?.