Tanzania needs more than $148-million to connect over 200 villages located in the rural areas by constructing new telecommunications towers across the country, says the country’s Ministry of Communications, Science and Technology.
Local media have reported that the World Bank’s allocation of funds to the Universal Communication Services Access Fund (UCSAF) has been met with objection by Tanzania’s government.
The Ministry’s Deputy Minister, January Makamba, said that the Tanzanian government is already in talks with the Indian government about the allocation of funds for the project, as the government voiced its objections towards the bureaucracy of releasing funds to the UCSAF.
“If we get these funds, we will then be able to connect all areas that almost many Members of Parliament have been requesting to be connected with telecommunications services,” said Deputy Minister Makamba in a House sitting.
The request follows the Tanzanian government’s displeasure in the allocation of funds from the Word Bank to the Universal Communication Services Access Fund (UCSAF), which is tasked with raising funds to ensure than telecommunications are rolled out across the country.
