Jica support to TZ hits Sh75 trillion in five years

Dar es Salaam. In the last five years, Japan’s assistance to Tanzania through the Japan International Cooperation (Jica) has reached a total of Sh74.93 trillion.

This was revealed as the minister for Finance and Planning, Dr Philip Mpango, expressed gratitude to Jica in Dar es Salaam on Wednesday when he met and held talks with the agency’s president Shinichi Kitaoka. The latter was touring the country.

The cash substantially includes a 76.0 per cent subsidy, concessional loans of 3.8 per cent and a 20.1 percent technical support.

Dr Mpango asked the Jica president to increase funding in the projects on electricity, infrastructure, health, agriculture and fisheries so as to help support the pace of the government in pushing for an industryd-driven economy.

“The industrial sector cannot develop if there won’t be massive investment in the areas of energy and road infrastructure,” Finance minister stressed. He also called upon the Agency to assist Tanzania in improving the health sector by constructing hospitals for handling serious ailments like heart complications and installing modern medical equipment because, he said, Japan was doing well in these areas.

“Another area that we see it is important to us it is about offering scholarships to our youth to take up various studies so that they can help build the nation through various sectors,”Dr Mpango added.

For his part, Mr Shinichi pledged that his agency would keep cooperating with the government of Tanzania in addressing the challenges inhibiting its development.

Besides the continued support for the country’s infrastructural development, Mr Shinichi explained that his agency would view how it could support the health sector by improving nutrition for children so as to have a firm and strong generation.

The Jica president also promised to mobilise various investors in his country to come and invest in Tanzania, where he said there were a lot of economic opportunities.