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Tanzania News

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  • US $104.5m Tanzanite Bridge project in Tanzania 71.3% complete

    by Kenneth Mwangi
    April 21, 2021

    April 21, 2021 By Kenneth Mwangi

    The US $104.5m Tanzanite Bridge project in Tanzania is currently 71.3% complete. According to the Chief Executive Officer of the Tanzania Roads Agency (TANROADS), Patrick Mfugale, the project is expected to be completed by the end of the year.

    “Construction of all 254 foundation pillars has been completed in tandem with the construction of platforms to facilitate the construction of a permanent bridge foundation,” the CEO told members of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Infrastructure during a visit to the construction site.

    Chairman of the committee Seleman Kakoso, commended the Ministry of Works and Tanroads for successfully implementing the project, saying they were more than happy to be told that a local contractor was supervising the work.

    “We are pleased with the progress of this project as well as the capacity building program for local contractors so that when this construction is completed they will have the skills to implement the construction of other bridges,” said Kakoso who is also Mpanda Rural MP in Katavi region.

    Filed Under: Africa, Tanzania News, Transportation

  • Project Updates|
  • Tanzania News
  • Construction Of Tanzania’s Mbulu District Hospital On Track

    by Kevin Davids
    April 1, 2020

    April 1, 2020 By Kevin Davids

    Construction works on Mbulu District Hospital is on track. Deputy Minister of State in the President’s Office (Regional Administration and Local Government) Mwita Waitara confirmed the report and said the project is making great progress.

    The project is expected to help Mbulu residents who have been traveling long distances to get medical services. When completed, the services offered will include vaccinations, child clinics, and other outpatient services.

    “The government is closely monitoring the hospital construction as well as the construction of other 67 hospitals nationwide so that they start offering services,” said Mwita Waitara.

    He however explained that Tanzania has currently over 16000 villages across the country and while the government may not be able to build dispensaries in all areas immediately, local authorities have been instructed and encouraged to erect the required structures for at least providing basic and minor treatments.

    “We cannot cover all the villages countrywide with dispensaries but the local authorities should ensure they erect the required structures which as a matter of fact require just a small area for minor treatments,” said Majaliwa.

    The government has sought to strengthen health care services by raising the medical supplies budget to enable payment for essential medicines, immunization, medical equipment and reagents to over US $130m in the 2018/19 financial year, compared with just over US $15m in FY-2015/16.

    Mwita Waitara also urged local authorities to start mobilizing funds for the construction of dispensaries through which the government will be able to provide medical supplies and health care staff.

    Filed Under: Project Updates, Tanzania News

  • Health & Education|
  • Tanzania News
  • World Bank Approves Delayed $500M Education Loan To Tanzania

    by Kevin Davids
    April 1, 2020

    April 1, 2020 By Kevin Davids

    The World Bank has approved a $500 million education loan to Tanzania after years of delays because of concerns about the country’s policy of banning pregnant students from public schools.

    The World Bank froze $1.7 billion in loans to Tanzania in 2018 following both the pregnant student ban and a law making it illegal to question official statistics. It started releasing funds again to the East African country last September.

    The terms of the loan, which is designed to improve secondary school access, give pregnant students – who were forced to drop out – a chance to complete their schooling through alternative public education programs, the World Bank said late on Tuesday.

    President John Magufuli announced the pregnant student ban in 2017, drawing harsh criticism from activists and donors.

    The World Bank, Tanzania’s biggest external lender, says about 5,500 pregnant girls drop out of school every year.

    Foreign loans and grants are a key source of foreign exchange for East Africa’s third-largest economy.

    Opposition leader Zitto Kabwe, who had previously asked the World Bank to withhold the loan until it was more inclusive, lauded campaigners and the terms of the loan on Twitter.

    Still, some activists emphasized there was a lot more work to be done.

    “I was expecting the World Bank to push for re-entry of banned teenage mothers in public schools, period,” said Carol Ndosi, a womens’ advocate. But, until then, this was a step in the right direction, Ndosi said.

    Filed Under: Health & Education, Tanzania News

  • Public Spaces|
  • Tanzania News
  • Reconstruction Of Sumbawanga’s Mandela Market To Cost $1M

    by Kevin Davids
    March 30, 2020

    March 30, 2020 By Kevin Davids

    The reconstruction of Mandela market in Sumbawanga Town, Rukwa region which was reduced to ashes on December 26, 2016 is set to cost nearly $1m upon its completion before the end of the financial year. During his tour to the town in October last year, President John Magufuli directed Sumbawanga Municipal Council to allocate $129,853 from its domestic revenues for rebuilding damaged business structures for the fire victims.

    He further gave a one month ultimatum to the municipality to construct damaged business structures. He also ordered the council to allocate business areas for the victims with immediate effect. “Victims should not be disturbed or forced to pay revenues until the construction of their destroyed business structures are built,” said the president.

    According to the tender which was issued mid-last year, the Sumbawanga Municipal Council intends to apply for a loan from the Tanzania Investment Bank towards the cost of the Proposed Construction of Mandela Modern Market in Sumbawanga Municipality. It also plans to apply part of the proceeds of this loan to cover eligible payments under the contract for Construction of Mandela Modern Market.

    Tendering was conducted through the National Competitive Tendering procedures specified in the Public Procurement Regulations, Government Notice No.446 of 2013 as amended in 2016 and was open to National Tenderers only as defined in the Regulations. The Mandela market is manned by Sumbawanga Municipal Council.

    Filed Under: Public Spaces, Tanzania News

  • Energy|
  • Project Updates|
  • Tanzania News
  • Greenlight Planet Surpasses 300K Home Solar Installs In Tanzania

    by Kevin Davids
    March 30, 2020

    March 30, 2020 By Kevin Davids

    The home solar kit supplier Greenlight Planet has passed the 1.5 million electrified people mark in Tanzania. This result should boost the company’s activities in several other African countries where it is present.

    Greenlight Planet publishes its activity results in Tanzania. The solar home system provider says it has already installed solar home kits in 300,000 homes, benefiting 1.5 million people, mainly in rural Tanzania. This was achieved during the company’s nine years of service in this East African country.

    Greenlight Planet distributes its famous Sun Kings to households. It is a system consisting mainly of a solar panel, batteries for electricity storage and LED bulbs, which are energy efficient. Greenlight Planet’s Sun King systems also have recharging spaces for mobile phones.

    The importance of solar kits in Tanzania

    Less than 17 per cent of Tanzania’s rural population has access to electricity, leaving more than 80 per cent of rural households in the dark at night. According to the Tanzania Rural Electrification Agency, the government plans to increase the rate of access to electricity for rural households to 50% by 2025 and 75% by 2033. “Given the size of the country and the dispersion of the population, off-grid energy is well placed to play an important role in providing rural people with access to electricity,” explains Greenlight Planet.

    The company, which employs more than 175 people in Tanzania, estimates that its solar home systems have saved rural households 70 billion Tanzanian shillings (more than $30 million) in nine years. This was achieved by switching from kerosene lamps to clean electricity. According to the Chicago-based company in the United States of America, its solution has also prevented the emission of 300,000 tons of carbon dioxide (CO2).

    Mobile money to facilitate the distribution of solar kits

    “With pay-as-you-go technology, customers have the ability to pay for their Sun King system in small instalments over time, allowing them to benefit from dramatic improvements in home savings, increased productivity for their small businesses and additional study time for their children. Increased affordability for customers, coupled with our network of nearly 800 sales agents and a series of strategic distribution partnerships, is helping us bring clean, reliable energy to rural communities,” said Dhaval Radia, Senior Vice President of Greenlight Planet.

    The company, launched in 2009, relies on mobile money to distribute its solar home systems. Recently, the solar kit supplier signed a partnership with Vodacom Tanzania, which offers this payment service via mobile phone. In November 2019, Greenlight Planet signed a partnership with the French telecommunications giant, Orange. The aim of the agreement this time is to market the solar kits at home in several countries in sub-Saharan Africa.

    Filed Under: Energy, Project Updates, Tanzania News

  • Health & Education|
  • Public Spaces|
  • Tanzania News
  • NGO To Bring Toilets To All Tanga Primary Schools

    by Kevin Davids
    March 27, 2020

    March 27, 2020 By Kevin Davids

    The Tanga International Competence Center (TICC) announced plans to construct toilets at all the primary schools in the city.

    The TICC Director, Ruth Nesje, told journalists that the organisation has already got the permission to implement the project from the Tanga district council.

    The director said the project is useful because it protect the health of school children in the city because there is shortage of toilets in most of primary schools.

    “We hope that we would get enough funds to implement it,” Nesje said.

    She said, TICC has already constructed toilets at Mwang’ombe Primary School in the city at the cost of 6.6/m-.

    According to information made available from the council’s website, the schools in the city face a shortage of 1,621 toilets.

    There are only 753 available toilet holes in a total of 100 Primary Schools (79 public and 21 private) with a total of 57,737 students.

    City education officer, Enedy Mnzava revealed that the council is taking various measures to reduce the shortage of toilets.

    Mnzava said that the council has already set aside funds to build six toilets at Mwang’ombe primary school.

    The education officer said the city plans to build many more toilets in other schools in the city in order to address the shortage.

    Mwang’ombe has two toilet rooms for girls and one room for boys.

    The Mwang’ombe primary school Head Teacher, Rachel Temu said that the new toilets have reduced the problem by 0.03 per cent.

    “There are a total of 1,411 pupils, 882 being girls and 729 boys, with eight toilet holes, two have collapsed and only four are in use,” the head teacher explained.

    Filed Under: Health & Education, Public Spaces, Tanzania News

  • Health & Education|
  • Tanzania News
  • Tanzania: As COVID-19 Forces Classes Online, Many Students Left Behind

    by Kevin Davids
    March 26, 2020

    March 26, 2020 By Kevin Davids

    Public learning institutions are shut down since last week after close kindergarten, primary and secondary schools were ordered to stop activities, then followed colleges and universities who were in recess at the time.

    Some private schools issued notices to parents on how to continue with programmes through virtual classrooms via information and communication technology (ICT) facilities.

    The International School of Tanganyika (IST) is one among schools that have closed campuses for staff and students but not learning itself.

    A public notice posted on its website just after the closure of the school affirmed that the school will be moving learning activities to online platforms. “Teachers and staff will be working remotely,” it stated.

    “To ensure the safety of the IST community through this difficult time, we have closed both campuses to students, parents, staff and the public,” it stated, elaborating what should be done during the closure period.

    Online learning requires regular access to a computer with an internet connection facilitated by high speed broadband access. It is highly recommended for optimal learning experience while some courses require advanced ICT facilities.

    While these requirements are basic needs for some parents and schools, they are a pipe dream for the majority of parents especially those banking their children’s education in public schools.

    Apart from e-learning, some private schools have designed a month-long homework package for pupils to keep them busy during the period.

    Interviews conducted by The Guardian yesterday found mixed feelings, with some observing the need for “serious measures to be taken to ensure that when learning resumes, all pupils become the same level.”

    One of the parents, Joseph Thomas, whose son is in standard six at an English medium private located at Segerea in Ilala municipality, commended the creativity made by private schools saying that pupils will continue learning at home instead of staying idle.

    “I have today received a message from my son’s teacher instructing me to go and take a holiday package for their monthly homework. Why can’t public schools do this?,” he demanded.

    He challenged teachers in public schools to adopt such creativity, arguing that the majority of parents these days can access learning materials from teachers via mobile applications such as WhatsApp.

    But Salum Rajabu, whose two children study at Maendeleo primary school— a public school located at Mbagala Kuu in Temeke municipality, said since the closure of the schools last week there has been no communication with teachers on how to continue with learning.

    “What I see is that some parents who bought text books encourage their children at home but for the rest, learning will resume once schools open,” he said.

    He expressed fears that there could be a wide gap of knowledge between pupils who continue with learning during the 30-days and those who stay at home without any learning to do.

    But for Anna Muga, a parent with pupils at a private preschool and primary school located at at Salasala within Kinondoni municipality, parents have a responsibility to cultivate friendship with teachers as that can lead to continuity of learning in unprecedented times such as these brought about by COVID-19.

    “My sons continue with assignments as usual as if they are in school thanks to good cooperation with the school administration. Our children will not be affected by the closure compared to their counterparts in public schools, ”she said with some relief.

    Joyce Makassy, resident of airport zone said she had received a message from the head teacher of Iringa-based public secondary schools urging parents to ensure that their children continue with studies at home as per the syllabus.

    “I encourage my son to revise on the materials they were taught before the closure so that when they start he will not have to go back,” she added.

    Filed Under: Health & Education, Tanzania News

  • Public Spaces|
  • Tanzania News
  • Yanga Stadium Construction To Begin

    by Kevin Davids
    March 26, 2020

    March 26, 2020 By Kevin Davids

    Construction of the Young Africans leadership (Yanga) stadium is soon to commence. The club’s Building and Infrastructure Committee secretary-general, Saidi Mrisho made the announcement and said that they are in the final stage of embarking on construction of own state of the art stadium.

    Saidi Mrisho said the stadium will be called the Kigamboni Sports Complex and Home of Champions. It will be a a 20,000 capacity seater stadium which will feature volleyball and basketball courts.“Basically, we have decided to build two stadiums in Kigamboni, one for training and another for handling international matches as per the requirements of the Confederation of African Football (Caf) and the world’s soccer governing body (Fifa),” said Mrisho.

    The stadium will have a gym, a 50m Olympic status swimming pool, sauna and other training facilities. The Committee secretary-general explained that they earlier planned to rebuild their Kaunda Stadium, but the plan was dropped to pave the way for another government project in the Jangwani area.

    “We have seven acres at Kigamboni, which, however, are not enough as we planned to build the biggest stadium in the country with a hostel, canteen and restaurant. We have also visited and viewed the Azam Complex, where we learnt a lot of things about how we can construct ours. We are aware of the challenges they are facing and how to address them. We really thank Azam for their cooperation,” said Mrisho.

    The project funding is under the club leadership as the land use master plan has been completed by professionals forming the committee.

    Filed Under: Public Spaces, Tanzania News

  • Tanzania News
  • SWIOFish Project Boosts Fish Yield

    by Kevin Davids
    March 25, 2020

    March 25, 2020 By Kevin Davids

    The South West Indian Ocean Fish (SWIOFish) project has improved fish catch, beneficiaries have said.

    The project is being implemented by the Fishing Department, Ministry of Agriculture, Natural Resources, Livestock and Fisheries.

    After a media visit organised by the department to small Islets like Pungume, one of the fishing camps in West B’ District Islands, head of patrol operations in the department, Mr Haji Shomar said control over unregulated fishing has helped increase the catch and improved octopus fish farming.

    He said Pungume is also among the Minai Bay conservation areas and that fishers are trained to practice sustainable fishing to protect the environment and minimise destruction to the environment.

    “People in the fishing villages now understand the importance of practicing environmental friendly fishing. We have stopped illegal methods of fishing because it destroys coral reefs.”

    The sea patrol chief said under the SWIOFish, fishers including women and men are educated with required methods of fishing, given some fishing equipment, and given knowledge on fish (octopus) keeping.

    He said sea patrol to control illegal and unlicensed fishing has improved after the purchase of two modern speed-patrol/rescue boats which are managed in collaboration with the anti-Smuggling Unit (KMKM).

    Fishers are required to have a fishing license, but most of them dodge.

    Mr Mshenga Mgeni, one of the fishermen at the Pungume fishing camp commended the government and SWIOFish project for planning to improve their fishing life.

    “Officers from the department have been coming here to empower us with knowledge about better fishing for the past three years. We already see the difference, because fish catch has increased and the environment is protected,” Mgeni said without disclosing statistics.

    Filed Under: Tanzania News

  • Energy|
  • Project Updates|
  • Tanzania News
  • Rukwa Coal Project Secures Funding

    by Kevin Davids
    March 24, 2020

    March 24, 2020 By Kevin Davids

    In a joint statement, the company’s Chairman, Jeff Malaihollo and CEO, Alistair Muir said the amount was before expenses were deducted.  The new ordinary shares of 0.02p each were sold at a placing price of 0.04p per ordinary share with existing shareholders through Brandon Hill Capital Limited.

    “As envisaged, following the passing of the resolutions, subscribers to the placing will now be issued with one warrant for every two placing shares subscribed for under the placing,” the two company officials stated.

    Meanwhile, Edenville Energy Plc said its Rukwa coal project’s wash plant recommenced continuous operations early this month. “As announced on 27 February 2020, a stockpile of approximately 6,000 tonnes of unwashed run of mine coal, which was mined from the southern pit at Rukwa, has been established adjacent to the wash plant,” the statement added.

    The statement further said the wash plant is currently processing ore from the stockpile ahead of the first customer pick-up which is scheduled for last week. “As previously announced, the Company expects to commence mining from the northern area at Rukwa during March 2020 as the stockpiles diminish and the ramp up in production continues,” the London based company stated.

    As previously noted, the region has so far experienced one of its wettest rainy seasons in many years. Should this continue throughout March there is the potential for further disruption to mining operations ahead of the expected end of the rainy season in late April.

    Apart from the Rukwa project, the company also has exploration licences form a contiguous block covering 494.99 square kilometres and lie adjacent to the Kiwira-Songwe coalfield.  It paid a private vendors U$161,700 in cash to acquire it. The licences are held by Edenville’s 99.5 percent owned Tanzanian subsidiary, Edenville International (Tanzania) Limited.

    Filed Under: Energy, Project Updates, Tanzania News

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