TANZANIA has paraded eight projects worth 1.334 billion US dollars (about 3.11tri/-) at the Eighth Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD8), as among the country’s flagship development projects.
The projects, which are in various stages of implementation, include the rehabilitation of Morogoro-Dodoma Road, the irrigation project in the Tanzania part of the Lake Victoria Basin, the Lugoda (Mufindi) water supply project, as well as building the capacity of the fish farming research centre in Dar es Salaam
Other projects are a modern fishing port, establishment of a quality assurance laboratory in the fishing sector and the renovation of the Wete fishing port and the construction of the Somanga-Fungu-Mkuranga power line.
Speaking during the TICAD8 meeting held yesterday in Tunis, Tunisia, Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa, who is representing President Samia Suluhu Hassan, had the opportunity to explain to the participants about the execution of several projects both in the Mainland and Zanzibar.
“Through the TICAD meetings, we as a country have benefited immensely. We secured funding for the construction of the Mfugale Bridge, the Kinyerezi II power plant project, and now we have requested them to extend funding for the completion of three projects –Arusha-Holili road, Kigoma Port and the Zanzibar water project,” the Prime Minister said.
He said the three projects will cost 343.8 million US dollars, out of which, a sum of 221 US dollars is for the Arusha-Holili road project, 98.7 million US dollars for improvement of Zanzibar’s water supply infrastructure projects and 24.1 million US dollars for Kigoma Port.
Regarding the agricultural sector, Premier Majaliwa said Tanzania has appealed to be given priority by TICAD8, so that it can increase the scope of agriculture.
“We need to make sure we have food security and a surplus for export,” the PM added.
Premier Majaliwa also held meetings with leaders of Japan Tobacco Incorporation (JTI), Mitsubishi and the President of the Japan International Development Agency (JICA).
He thanked JUT Board Chairman Mr Mutsuo Iwai for the company’s decision to set up a girls hostel in Urambo District, Tabora region, calling them to buy more tobacco from farmers in the region.
“Last year they bought 14 million tonnes of tobacco, so we have asked them this season to add more tonnes so as to provide a reliable market to farmers’ produce. They have a factory so they can buy more,” he said.
Moreover, the Prime Minister thanked the Vice-President of Mitsubishi Mr Yasuteru Hirai, for supporting completing the construction of electricity infrastructure in the Kilimanjaro Region and asked them to invest in the agricultural sector, especially in the production of fertiliser.
For his side, the President of JICA, Dr Akihiko Tanaka promised the Prime Minister that the volunteers, who left the country because of Covid 19, will start returning soon to continue providing services to the people.
Meanwhile, the Association of African Economy and Development (AFRECO) has expressed its intention to build a school of medical engineering in collaboration with the University of Dodoma (UDOM), to address the shortage of medical professionals and medical equipment in the country.
This was said by the president of the company, Mr Tetsuro Yano over the weekend, when he met Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa.
Mr Yano said that when they visited Tanzania, they realised that there was a need for medical equipment and experts, hence the decision to establish the school.
“We have seen the need to establish a medical engineering college so that we can train professionals who will be responsible for equipment maintenance instead of importing technicians from outside the country or leaving the defective equipment unused,” he said.
He told the Prime Minister that they had already received a request from UDOM to provide a mobile clinic bus with special medical equipment, which will be helping to provide services to the university community and neighbouring villages.
For his part, an expert from Japan’s Kurashiki University of Science and Art, Dr Tomotaka Naramura told the Premier that they intend to open the college in 2023.
He said they met with the Vice-chancellor of the UDOM and agreed that there is a need to develop human resources on the medical side, so that the country can have specialists for the purchased medical equipment.
