Announcement of Six Million Five Hundred Thousand Dollars Credit for Tanzania Roads on August 9, 1971

'°'\,.,·EI. o l'.lt Ii' v,>. (~) • INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT ASSOCIATl()N 1818 H STREET. N.W .. WASHINGTON D. C. 20433 TELEPHONE: EXECUTIVE 3-6360 IDA Press Release No. 71/34 Subject: $6.5 million credit for August 9, 1971 Tanzania roads Tanzania will further i~rove its primary highway system, upgrade agricultural feeder roads, increase its maintenance capabilities and tmdertake road itr4Jrovement studies with the assistance of e. $6. 5 million credit approved by the International Development Association (IDA), of the World Bank Group. The project aims primarily at stimulating agriculture, the mainstay of the Tanzanian economy. Tanzania's development policy places heavy • emphasis on raising living standards in the rural areas 9 which are often distant from the main population centers and have poor road connections for transporting commodities. The project includes paving 125 miles of the main southern trunk road between the port of ~1twara and the regional agricultural center of Masasi; upgrading 295 miles of agricultural feeder roads in the Geita district and Mara region on Lake Victoria in the north by creating and equipping road improvement units in those areas; and providing assistance in supervising the project and for staff training. In addition, engineering and other studies of an additional 155 miles of roads for possible future development will be undertaken. The Mtwara-Masasi road links the port of Htwar.a with the entire southern fringe of the country and is used to transport the substantial cashew nut • crop grown in ·the area. Geita district roads provide an outlet for the important cotton crop grown there and the Mara region roads are essential to a recently established milk-producing project. /more IDA P. '.{. 71/Jh - Tan7,ania - 2 - The World Bank Group has assisted two previous road projects in • Tanzania with three IDA credits and one World Bank loan totaling $39.5 mil- lion. The new IDA credit will meet the approximately two-thirds foreign exchange component of the $9.5 million project, with the balance being provided by the Tanzanian Government. The credit is for 50 years, with a 10-year grace period. It is interest free but carries a 3/4 of 1% service charge to meet IDA 1 s adwinistrative expenses. The project is scheduled for completion in mid-1974. It will be implemented by the Roads and Aerodromes Division of the Ministry of Communications, Transport and Labour (P.O. Box 9144, Dar es Salaam, Tanzania). • - 0 - •