ADB TO FINANCE MORE INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS IN TANZANIA

President Jakaya Mrisho Kikwete shakes hands with Ms Tonia Kandiero, ADB's Resident Representative Tanzania Field Office at the Opening of Singida-Babati-Minjingu Road recently in Singida.

By a Correspondent

The African Development Bank Bank is in the final stages of processing financing for the Arusha-Holili/Taveta-Voi Corridor, which at completion will facilitate cross-border trade and support the integration agenda of the East African Community.

The corridor is meant to not only serve part of central and north-western Tanzania but also the landlocked neighbors to the West, namely Rwanda, Burundi and Eastern Democratic Republic of Congo.

“The Bank recognizes that infrastructure development is at the heart of the economic development process that reduces the cost of doing business, attracts private sector investment, enables production and social service delivery, links market centers and contributes to the sustainability of the quality of life through re-distribution of wealth as provided in MKUKUTA II and the Five Year Development Plan.

“We, at the African Development are very proud of the partnership with Government in co-financing the construction of this very important road”, said the ADB Resident Representative in Tanzania Tonia Kandiero, ADB’s Resident Representative Tanzania field office at the Opening of the Singida-Babati-Minjingu Road in Singida.

Ms Kadiero also said that the ADB together with the Japanese International Cooperation Agency (JICA) have set aside financing for the Mayamaya-Bonga road under the Road Sector Support Project II.

She said the procurement process for the award of the civil works contracts was at an advanced stage with the contractors expected on site in the first quarter of 2013.

“The completion of this section together with the rehabilitation of the Minjingu-Babati road financed by another development partner will provide an all-weather link between Arusha and Dodoma”, she noted.

Ms Kadiero said that the ADB is committed to infrastructure development on the continent and as such has allocated a big percentage of its resources to the cause.

“The allocation is consistent with the Bank’s Medium Term Strategy (2008-2012) and the Long-Term Strategy (2013-2022), that have identified infrastructure as one of the major focus areas for new commitments especially projects that have high development and regional integration impact.

“For Tanzania, I am happy to report that ongoing Bank financed transport infrastructure portfolio currently stands at USD550 million and expected to grow to USD650 million by the end of the 2012/2013 financial year”, she said.

The on-going portfolio includes the near completed Multinational: (i) Arusha-Namanga –Athi River Road Project; (ii) Road Sector Support Project I comprising the Dodoma-Iringa and the Tunduru-Namtumbo road of total length of 440km; both jointly financed by JICA and the Bank. One project approved earlier this year, namely Road Sector Support Project II that comprises the upgrading a total of 390km to bitumen standards.

However, Ms Kadiero noted that Road construction is a complex venture and therefore goes with its own challenges.

She said one of the major challenges was the poor performance of contractors which threatens the achievement of the development objectives of the country.

“The lessons learnt from past contract awards should be used to develop more rigorous methods of evaluation of contractors to eliminate poor performers. Indeed, the Bank has gone a long way on the identification of likely poor performers and has partnered with other multilateral and regional Banks to develop a list of debarred service providers which are accessible on our website.

“This list will be the basis of identifying and disqualifying poor performers together with more diligent assessment of others that fall in the same category”, she said.

She named other challenges of concern to the Bank in the transport sector was the low participation of local consulting and construction industry in Bank financed projects.

Ms Kadiero said that during the Transport Dialogue mission of the Bank it was agreed that there was the need to identifying the limitations of the industry and implement measures that can enhance their participation given the increasing size of the transport portfolio.

“The Bank is looking forward to engaging Government on this issue with a view to increasing the participation of the local construction industry in future Bank financed projects.

“The opening of the Singida-Babati-Minjingu Road marks Government and Bank’s commitment to the development of infrastructure to ensure that communities get access to bigger markets and social services and at the same time integrate them with the rest of the country”, she concluded. .