This was announced in Dar es Salaam on Thursday by the Vice-President of EIB, Mr Thomas Östros, during the two-day Tanzania-European Union (EU) Business Forum that has attracted over 700 delegates from the two parties.
According to Mr Östros, the targeted business financing designed in partnership with the local banks includes EIB’s largest ever financing for women-led businesses in Africa and its largest ever support for the blue economy business investments anywhere in the world.
“The EIB’s financing and technical support for new investment will strengthen the impact of the EU’s new Global Gateway arrangement.
“Today marks the return of the EIB to Tanzania after seven years and it is great to be back. The EIB is back and Tanzanian businesses will benefit,” he affirmed.
Mr Östros noted further that the EIB has over the last 45 years worked with Tanzania and other international partners to support clean energy and enhance electricity transmission and improving access to clean water around Lake Victoria and the city of Mwanza.
Through the partnerships, the bank also supported upgrading of Dar es Salaam port and regional airports as well as ensuring that Tanzanian companies can access finance to expand their businesses.
In another development, Mr Östros explained that during the first year of its new dedicated development finance arm, EIB Global, provided more than 4.1 billion Euros for new clean energy, health, transport, water and business investments across Africa.
During the Tanzania-EU Business Forum, France’s Minister Delegate for Trade Attractiveness, Mr Olivier Becht, and Tanzania’s Minister for Works and Transport, Prof Makame Mbarawa, signed a new Bilateral Air Service Agreement (BASA) between the two countries.
Prof Mbarawa said the agreement will allow airline companies of Tanzania and France to increase their number of flights to the other country.
He said the new agreement replaces the air service agreement signed between the two countries in the year 1978.
For his part, Mr Becht said Air France will benefit from the agreement as it plans to increase the number of flights in Tanzania with the incoming inauguration of a direct flight between Dar es Salaam and Paris in June, this year.
“The French Islands of Mayotte and La Réunion will also benefit significantly as this agreement specifically allows Tanzanian companies to fly directly to the French islands,” he explained.
During the same occasion, a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed between the Director General of Tanzania Ports Authority (TPA), Mr Plasduce Mbossa, and the Director of Port of Antwerp-Bruges International, Mr Mario Lievens.
Port of Antwerp-Bruges International (PoABI) and APEC-Antwerp/Flanders Port Training Centre (APEC) have been working together since 1979 with TPA on a sustainable partnership with a focus on capacity building.
“This collaboration resulted in the signing of a mutual beneficial memorandum of understanding for consultancy, studies and exchange on various port related activities, as well as training and capacity upscaling,” Mr Mbossa stated.
The aim of the MoU is to establish a stable model of institutional cooperation between both port authorities.
The areas of collaboration that have been identified in this stage, are axed on defining a long-term strategy for TPA, through strengthening the existing main port infrastructure of Dar es Salaam.
It will also focus on capitalising on its geostrategic position through improving the hinterland connectivity through the development of dry ports and lake ports, and preparing for additional capacity in the near future.
Another agreement which was signed during the forum was construction of Kakono hydropower plant in Kagera region which will cost 296 million Euros.
The project will involve the construction of a run-of-the-river hydro power plant in Kagera region, with an installed capacity of 87 megawatts (MW) and an associated 38.8 kilometres of 132 kV transmission line to evacuate power to an existing substation at Kyaka.
The new hydro power plant is expected to replace several diesel generators; based on the planned capacity, it is estimated that the plant will reduce greenhouse emissions by 213,810 tonnes per year. The additional capacity will also improve reliability of the supply.
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