Foreign Aid Watch 2009

[mwanakijiji]

Belgium gives Tanzania 57bn/- support

Tuesday, 24 February 2009

Belgium has committed 34.2 million Euro (over 56.7bn/-) to improvement of infrastructure, communication and transport sectors in Tanzania for a period of four years, it was announced in Dar es Salaam today.

Finance and Economic Affairs Minister, Mr Mustafa Mkulo, said this to journalists when introducing the Belgium Minister of Development Cooperation, Mr Charles Michel, at the ministry. Mr Mkulo said the amount of funding might be increased after talks on the bilateral cooperation between the two governments.
He said Belgium has extended over 70m/- grants to various sectors including local government reforms, natural resources management, basic primary education and scholarship. The minister also noted that Belgium has been supporting the country's efforts in HIV/Aids prevention since 2003.
?The support of our development partners has enabled Tanzania to improve macroeconomic and fiscal performance with significant progress on poverty reduction despite the adverse effects of exogenous shocks such as worsening terms of trade, recurring droughts and high food and oil prices,? he said.
Mr Mkulo also asked the Belgium government to expand the scope of cooperation by exploring additional areas particularly trade, investment and tourism between the two countries. ?We believe there is potential that can be exploited in these areas. What is needed is for our two governments to provide necessary encouragement and support for our people to take up that challenge,? he said. The Belgium Minister of Development Cooperation, Mr Charles Michel, had earlier told reporters that the funding of the sectors would enable the country create more jobs.

[mwanakijiji]

Poor Farmers In Tanzania To Get $56 Million

Sunday, 22 February 2009, 1:25 pm
Press Release: United Nations

Poor Farmers In Tanzania To Get $56 Million Boost From UN Rural Development Arm

New York, Feb 20 2009 12:10PM

Smallholder farmers in Tanzania will benefit from a $56 million loan injected into the Government?s agricultural sector from the United Nations in an effort to encourage economic growth and reduce poverty.

The supplementary loan to Tanzania from the UN International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) will help smallholder farmers by supporting a programme aimed at stimulating the significant growth potential in traditional export crops.

Expanding domestic and regional markets coupled with Tanzania?s relative abundance of arable and range land have provided an opportunity for farmers to profit from growing crops for export, IFAD said.

The loan from IFAD will go towards an initiative helping poor rural women and men living on less than $1 a day to boost their agricultural productivity and incomes. The programme also assists people most vulnerable to food insecurity by giving them access to agricultural knowledge, technologies, marketing systems and infrastructure.

The total cost of the programme is estimated at over $315 million over seven years, with the main sources of financing coming from IFAD, the World Bank, the African Development Bank, Irish Aid, Japan, the European Union, the Government of Tanzania and the beneficiaries themselves.

The loan agreement was signed yesterday in Rome by Lennart B?ge, IFAD President and Wilfred Joseph Ngirwa, the Permanent Representative of Tanzania to the United Nations Agencies (Food and Agriculture Organization, IFAD and World Food Programme).

To date IFAD, created to tackle rural poverty, has funded 14 rural development projects in Tanzania for a total of some $269 million

[mwanakijiji]

Global Fund grants Tanzania 898bn/- to combat Aids, TB and malaria

2009-02-13 13:48:23
By Adam Ihucha, Arusha


The battle against the three leading killer diseases of Aids, tuberculosis and malaria has received a major boost in the form of grants amounting to USD680 million from the Global Fund.

``Tanzania becomes a baby of the Global Fund to fight Aids, tuberculosis and malaria. We are now eligible for the largest package ever of USD680m grants in its 8th round,`` Tanzania Commission for Aids (TACAIDS) executive chairperson Dr Fatma Mrisho said on Wednesday.

Briefing the media immediately after a three-day Global Fund meeting for Eastern Africa and the Indian Ocean region in Arusha, Dr Mrisho said they were finalizing formalities before the agreement was signed in the next four months.

``The grants, the largest sum ever committed to Tanzania in seven years, aims to support large-scale prevention, treatment and care programmes against the three diseases,`` Dr Mrisho said.

It is anticipated that, come July this year, the funds would be released ready for disbursement.
Nearly 85 per cent of the package would boost the fight against the three major killer diseases in 133 district councils in the country.

However, a large chunk of the grants would be directed to fighting malaria, the country?s major killer disease at the moment, according to the TACAIDS chief.

As to why the Global Fund had approved such a large sum for Tanzania, Dr Mrisho, who was with Global Fund executive director Prof Michel Kazatchkine during the crucial talks in Arusha, said: ``The Global Fund regards Tanzania as a rare example of East African showcase in the war against Aids, tuberculosis and malaria``.

She said Tanzania had proved itself to be a country that did most things right.

``As Global Fund prepares to disburse funds to its round 9 to eligible countries, Tanzania will be near the front of the line, a test case of a country that is seen as doing most things right,`` Dr. Mrisho noted.

In the Eastern Africa and Indian Ocean region, the Global Fund supports programmes in fighting the three diseases in Burundi, Comoros, DRC, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Mauritius, Rwanda, Tanzania and Uganda.

According to the Funds executive director, Prof Michel Kazatchkine, all the grants combined in the region were worth more than USD4.1bn, of which almost USD1.9bn had already been disbursed.

``Progammes in Eastern Africa and Indian Ocean region combined account for more than 27 per cent of the overall Global Fund portfolio approved to date, which is worth USD15bn,`` he said.

[mwanakijiji]

Japan, Tanzania expected to sign agreement for water supply in Zanzibar today

2009-02-26 11:21:03
By Guardian Correspondent


Japan and Tanzania will today sign an agreement on grant aid for implementing the project for Zanzibar Urban water Supply.

A statement issued yesterday by the Japanese embassy in Dar es Salaam said that the signing ceremony will be held in Zanzibar.

Japan would be represented by Kiyoshi Masumoto, Chief Representative of the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA), while the Tanzanian side would be represented by Minister of State, President`s Office Responsible for Finance and Economic Affairs, Dr Mwinyihaji Makame.

The statement further said: ``Under the agreement, the government of Japan will extend a grant amounting to 1.4bn yen (approximately 20bn/-).``

It further said that the project will be signed as phase two of the agreement, whereby it will constitute drilling of five boreholes and construction of distribution stations, including reservoirs building as well as laying a distribution pipe covering 21 kilometers.

The project aims to improve water supply, and its quality so as to reduce waterborne diseases in the Isles.

Phase one of the project was completed in March 2008, whereby six boreholes were drilled, two distribution stations were constructed and a 23 kilometer distribution pipe was laid.

[Ach-F]

Pesa zinazoishia mikononi mwa MAFISADI. Tanzania tungekuwa matajiri sana kwa misaada tuliyopata tangu uhuru lakini zinakokwenda anafahamu FISADI.

[anonymous]

Prime Minister Mizengo Pinda has asked Ireland and other development partners to fulfil their commitments of assistance to poor countries despite the world financial crisis.

In an address at the University College of Dublin on Thursday, he said failure to fulfil the commitments would widen disparity in human development between the rich and the poor in the inter-dependent world.

He said in Tanzania there was a Kiswahili proverb which literally states: `If you don`t fill up a crack on the wall in time, you will end up building a new wall`.

``The global financial crisis should not deter Ireland and other development partners from fulfilling commitments of development assistance to our countries,`` he said.

He added that as the world was today becoming closely interconnected and networked and the fact that development partners had gone a long way to fill the cracks of disparity in development, it would be inconceivable if the same cracks would be allowed to widen again because of the global financial crisis.

``It is important for everyone to be aware of what is happening in other parts of the world, be involved in finding solutions to poverty and hunger and other issues confronting the world,`` he added.

He quoted former British Prime Minister Tony Blair who, after surveying the level of poverty across Africa, said: ``Such poverty amidst so much wealth in the world we share is a scar on the conscience of rich industrialised countries``.

Ireland is Tanzania`s leading development partners and its aid programme is concentrated on agriculture, health, governance and general budget support.

But Premier Pinda also challenged the University of Dublin when he posed the question: ``To what extent are academics within this university aware of the Millennium Development Goals?``
He posed another question: ``To what extent does the curriculum, either by accident or design, contribute to achieving the Millennium Development Goals?``

He posed yet another: ``How can the curriculum be developed to further embed the concept of sustainable development and global citizenship and thus enhance the university`s contribution to achieving the internationally agreed development goals, including the Millennium Development Goals?``

The Premier yesterday met with Irish Foreign Affairs minister Michael Martin and Agriculture, Fisheries and Food minister Brendan Smith.

He was also scheduled to visit the Ashton Food Research Centre and the Digital Exchange Building, which houses the Digital hub: the Dublin Institute of Technology.

He was thereafter expected to meet with Tanzanians living here.

Some development partners have already said the on-going financial crisis will not affect aid flow to Africa and Tanzania in particular. They include Japan, the United States and Belgium.

Belgian Development Cooperation minister Charles Michel gave assurance that its development package to Tanzania won`t be affected, and on the same day, he and Finance and Economic Affairs minister, Mustafa Mkulo signed a new Indicative Development Cooperation Programme.

Source: The Guardian

[mwanakijiji]

Nadhani hii inafuatia ripoti hapo juu ya Anon!

Tanzania gets $200m from Ireland to support its budget

Send Cancel
Posted Saturday, March 28 2009 at 13:05 (EastAfrican)

Tanzania has secured $200 million from the Irish government for budget support. Irish ambassador Anne Barrington said the money will help in research and extension programmes on agriculture.

Related Stories

* Did Nkurumah kill off the first EA Community?

She praised Tanzania for laying emphasis on improved inputs, technology, extension services, education and research, and for creating markets and attracting investment.

?The agricultural sector gets only 6.2 per cent of the national budget ? up significantly from previous years ? but inadequate just the same,? she said.

She commended efforts to lower Aids and malaria prevalence in the country, but noted that pre- and post-natal deaths were alarmingly high.

In particular, she cited recurring deaths of pregnant women in Tanzania.?There are encouraging statistics on infant mortality, malaria and HIV and Aids, but there is one statistic that is not budging and that is maternal mortality.? The mortality rate stands at 578 women per 100,000 in Tanzania. More than 16 women a day die of treatable complications in pregnancy and childbirth.

She said budgetary allocations to Tanzania?s economy backbone ? agriculture ? must be improved to reach the Maputo Declaration?s threshold of 10 per cent and above, and 20 per cent and above for the health sector.

Experts say anything below this threshold put by the Southern African Development Community is untenable.

The country?s current budget of $6 billion, which ends in June, set aside only $365 million for agriculture.

Members of Parliament from rural areas have been complaining that agriculture has been severely affected by drought and subsistence production. Other hurdles include market accessibility, lack of government subsidies and inflation.

Research shows that of the 22 countries facing high food and fuel prices, 19 are in sub-Saharan Africa.

By 2005, only six countries had allocated at least 10 per cent of their national budgets to agriculture.

They were Niger (20), Ethiopia (16.8), Burkina Faso (13.7), Chad (12), Mali (11) and Malawi (11).Countries that achieved or surpassed the target in 2005 were Angola, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Nigeria, Mauritania, Mali, Senegal, Kenya, Chad, Guinea and DRC.

[mwanakijiji]

IMF KUIPATIA TANZANIA 845 BILIONI KUSAIDIA BAJETI!

Na Exuper Kachenje (Mwananchi)

TANZANIA imepata msaada wa dola za Marekani 650 milioni (Sh 845 bilioni) kutoka Benki ya Dunia kwa ajili ya kuisaidia bajeti ya serikali ya mwaka ujao wa fedha (2009/2010) na kukabiliana na athari za mtikisiko wa uchumi duniani.


Hayo yamebainishwa na mwakilishi wa benki hiyo nchini Dk John Mackintire alipokutana na Rais Jakaya Kikwete Ikulu jijini Dar es Salaam, jana.


Kwa mujibu wa taarifa iliyotolewa na Kurugenzi ya Habari ya Ikulu jana, baada ya mazungumzo kati ya Rais Kikwete na mwakilishi huyo, kiasi cha dola 470 milioni za msaada huo zitaingia katika bajeti ijayo.


Taarifa hiyo imefahamisha kuwa kiasi cha dola 220milioni ambazo ni sawa na asilimia moja ya pato la taifa letu (GDP) zitatolewa kwa ajili ya kukabiliana na athari za mtikisiko wa uchumi duniani.


?Nimefika hapa Mheshimiwa Rais kukueleza kuwa Benki ya Dunia itaisaidia Tanzania katika bajeti yake ya mwaka ujao wa fedha, lakini pia napenda kukuarifu kuwa itatoa msaada kwa Tanzania katika kukabiliana na athari za uchumi zinazoendelea duniani hivi sasa,? ilisema sehemu ya taarifa hiyo ya Ikulu ikimnukuu Dk Mackintire.


Dk Mackintire alimweleza Rais Kikwete kuwa Tanzania ni miongoni mwa nchi tano bora za Afrika zinazofanya vizuri katika kuinua uchumi, hivyo ni lazima ipewe kipaumbele kwa kupewa msaada wakati huu ambapo dunia inakabiliana na athari za kiuchumi.


Taarifa hiyo ya Ikulu imeainisha maeneo yatakayopewa kipaumbele katika bajeti ijayo kupitia msaada huo kuwa ni pamoja na ruzuku ya mbolea, harakati za kupunguza umaskini, Mpango wa Taifa wa Kufufua Kilimo (ASDP) na sekta ya madini.


Katika hatua nyingine, benki ya dunia imeihakikishia Tanzania kuwa ni moja ya nchi za Afrika zitakazofaidika na msaada uliotolewa na nchi tajiri duniani (G20), wakati wa mkutano wao uliofanyika London, Uingereza hivi karibuni tofauti na baadhi ya magazeti kuripoti kuwa Tanzania haitafaidika.


?Tanzania itapata na kufaidika na msaada wa G20 kwa sababu inafanya vizuri,? alisema Dk Mckintire akiihakikishia Tanzania mbele ya Rais Kikwete.


Katika mkutano wao hivi karibuni, nchi za G20 ziliazimia kutenga dola 50bilioni kusaidia nchi za Afrika katika kuinua uchumi na kuzisaidia kukabiliana na msukosuko wa kiuchumi duniani.


Wakati huo huo, Rais Kikwete jana alifanya mazungumzo na Rais na Mtendaji Mkuu wa shirika lisilo la kiserikali la CARE International, Dk Helene Gayle kuhusu juhudi mbalimbali za kuinua na kuendeleza sekta ya afya nchini.


Eneo lililotiliwa mkazo ni huduma ya afya ya mama na mtoto ambayo ni moja ya malengo ya Milenia ambayo Tanzania inajitahidi kuyatekeleza.

[Steve Dii]

It's quite now obvious that billions don't work!

----if we only ever find the missing link!

[Ach-F]

Ni sawa na unapokuwa nyumbani na kushindwa kuweka chakula mezani na mkeo anakwenda kwa jirani kila siku kwa wanaume wengine na kuomba na kuja kupika chakula mle wewe pamoja na watoto. Huulizi huko kinakotoka analipa nini? Ni mahayawani tu ambao wanaendekeza tabia hiyo.