Sh200bn set to transform NIT into transport varsity

Dar es Salaam. The National Institute of Transport (NIT) will receive a total of $83.5 million (nearly Sh200 billion) from the World Bank and China that will be spent on transforming the institution into a fully fledged university that will include aviation-related studies.

The transformed NIT will be known as the National University of Transport (NUT).

NIT has officially been handed a 60-hectare piece of land by the Kilimanjaro Airports Development Company (Kadco) in Kilimanjaro Region where NUT’s College of Aerospace Science and Technology and a Flying Academy for pilots will be built.

Out of the money, the World Bank will provide a total of $21.5 million (about Sh50.5 billion) soft loan while the remaining $62 million (about Sh146 billion) will be in form of grants from the Chinese government.

The Rector of NIT, Prof Zacharia Mganilwa, told The Citizen in an interview yesterday that Tanzania was facing a shortage of pilots, aircraft maintenance engineers and cabin crew, hence the need to come up with the investment.

“To fill this gap, Tanzania is among three countries (others being Kenya and Ethiopia) that will each receive a soft loan of $21.5 million to develop their skilled manpower in the area,” he said.

The government, through the Ministry of Finance and Planning, has already signed the loan agreement with the World Bank but that NIT, through the Ministry of Education, Science, Technology and Vocational Training, is required to sign a contract that will ultimately result into the release of the funds.

He said that the project, encompassing a number of construction projects, will be launched in June, commencing with civil work.

“Our newly obtained piece of land will be utilised for the construction of the infrastructure for the College of Aerospace Science and Technology, which will be used to train experts in aviation in the profession of pilots, aircraft maintenance engineers and cabin crew,” he said.

Elaborating, Prof Mganilwa said part of the loan will be spent on the training of 10 pilot instructors.

He said it currently costs Sh300 million to train one pilot.

He said the $62 million (Sh134.1 billion) grant from China will be used for the construction of a Flying Academy whose feasibility study is currently being conducted by Southwest Jiaotong University.

The feasibility study commenced in November last year and expected to end anytime this year.

He noted that the government had also committed to purchasing two aircraft that will be used for training purposes in the 2019/20 financial year.

NIT’s expansion plans also include construction of its College of Marine campus in Lindi where it has acquired a 150-acre piece of land.

Funds to implement the project will be sourced from other means.