EIB to fund Tanzania water and sanitation projects

The European Investment Bank (EIB) will provide a €45m 20-year loan to a new water infrastructure investment scheme to improve access to clean water sanitation in Tanzania.

The loan will benefit more than 500,000 inhabitants of Mwanza, Bukoba and Musoma, as well as other communities around the Lake Victoria basin.

EIB vice president Pim van Ballekom said that the project will improve health and transform the quality of life of hundreds of thousands of Tanzanians living alongside Lake Victoria.

"The European Investment Bank is committed to supporting crucial investment in water and sanitation around the world and is pleased to work alongside partners Agence Française de Développement, AfD and the EU through the EU-Africa Infrastructure Trust Fund, as well as the government here in Tanzania," Ballekom added.

"This new project builds on the engagement demonstrated in a previous project in Dar es Salaam agreed in 2003."

Upon completion of the project, 95% of the population of Mwanza will have access to clean drinking water, and half the city’s inhabitants will benefit from improved sanitation.

The transformational project will also create hundreds of jobs, both during implementation and when complete in 2019.

The EIB and the European Union will provide technical assistance totalling €10m for project preparation and implementation.

The European Investment Bank, Agence Française de Développement and Germany’s KfW are working together to support investment in key water infrastructure around Lake Victoria under the Mutual Reliance Initiative.