World Bank will give Tanzania $100 million to help improve telecoms

The World Bank will give Tanzania $100 million to help improve telecoms infrastructure in government offices, increase access in rural areas and boost registration systems, bank officials said on Monday.

According to Peter Silarszky, World Bank economist for global information and communications technologist the main focus of the Bank assistance is in the areas of rural access. He said they were providing in these areas subsidies to operators so that they go to areas which otherwise would remain unserved.

Tanzania is among Africa's largest per capita aid recipients, with 33 percent of its 2009/10 fiscal budget expected to come from external sources.

*The latest project, approved late last week, brings total World Bank funding for Tanzania to about $590 million cleared this month.

Other projects approved include two in the agriculture sector, one in mining, and funding for general budget support.

Of the money, the bank said $220 million, going mainly to agriculture, was part of what the bank promised Tanzania to go towards a stimulus package to help the country weather the global economic downturn.