Tanzania water projects gets financial boost

Tanzania water projects has received a shot in the arm after the government announced that it was in final talks with the Indian government to pump in a US$500m loan for undertaking water projects in the country.

Speaking while tabling budget proposals for the Ministry of Water and Irrigation in parliament, Tanzania’s Minister for Water and Irrigation, Isaac Kamwelwe, said that the Tanzania water projects will help end the water shortage facing many parts of the country.

He also said, the Tanzanian government was finalizing talks with the government of India before signing the loan contract.

Some of the proposed areas to benefit from the loan are: Muheza, Wanging’ombe, Makambako, Kayanga, Songea, Zanzibar, Njombe, Mugumu, Manyoni, Sikonge, Kasulu, Rujewa, Kilwa Masoko, Geita, Chunya and Makonde.

“These areas face acute water shortages,” said Kamwelwe.

The minister said the government was in the process of amending water laws to provide for stiff penalties to those who will be found tampering with or destroying water infrastructure.

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In November 2017, Tanzania’s Minister of State in the Vice-President’s Office responsible for Environment, January Makamba, directed all local government authorities in the country to take an inventory of all water sources for protection.

Makamba told the National Assembly that the inventory of water sources would help the government to protect them from degradation and improve those that had been affected by human activities.

He made the remarks as the latest report by the World Bank revealed that water scarcity facing Tanzania, East Africa’s second largest economy, could derail its growth and poverty reduction efforts.

The report further stated that, against the rapidly expanding economy and population in Tanzania, renewable per capita freshwater resources dropped over the past 25 years from more than 3,000 cubic meters per person to around 1,600 in 2018, and that the decline, which is driven by increasing demand for a finite resource, will be likely to continue and reach around 1,400 cubic meters per person by 2025, well below the 1,700 cubic meter per person threshold that defines water stressed countries.