Tanzania could not have found a better opportunity than the 78th General Assembly of the United Nations (UN) being held in New York in the United States of America to make its case to the international community for funding for the Tanzania Water Investment Programme (TanWIP). The request was made by the East African country’s vice-president Philip Mpango on 19 September, on the sidelines of the launch of the high-level panel campaign on investment in Africa’s water sector, “Mind the Gap – Invest in Water”, by the African Union Commission (AUC).
Philip Mpango is calling on the international community to contribute 57% of the funding for the TanWIP, which will require an overall investment of $15.2 billion. The Tanzanian government will provide the remaining 43% of the programme’s budget.
Ensuring water security in Tanzania
The Tanzanian authorities have already allocated the funding according to the actions that will be carried out as part of the TanWIP. Investment in the water sector for social well-being will cost 6.7 billion dollars, investment dedicated to Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG 6) will cost 7.14 billion dollars, strengthening water governance and institutions will cost 0.54 billion dollars, investment for climate change resilience and disaster management will also cost 0.54 billion dollars, and the remaining 0.3 billion dollars will finance the coordination and monitoring of the water programme.
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“The completion of TanWIP will guarantee national water security”, says Philip Mpango. Currently, drinking water coverage is 86% in urban areas and 72.3% in rural areas. Tanzania is aiming for universal access by 2030, which is also the deadline for the TanWIP.
The water programme benefits from the technical support of the Global Water Partnership Tanzania & Global Water Partnership Southern Africa (GWPSA-Africa), which hosts the Secretariat of the African Continental Water Investment Programme (AIP), an AU initiative that seeks to reduce the investment gap with a view to achieving MDG 6.
Inès Magoum