Recently, the governments of Tanzania and France signed a loan agreement to finance water supply projects in the  Morogoro region of the Country. The signing took place On Thursday, May 28, 2020, while the project is expected to benefit about 770,000 people residing in the region.

According to a statement by Dotto James, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Finance and Planning, the French government will extend the loan of about $76 million to East African countries through its French Development Agency (AFD). He further stated that “upon completion, the water supply in the Morogoro municipality will increase from the current 37,000 cubic meters a day to 108,000 cubic meters a day.”

Morogoro is the 6th largest district in Tanzania with 19 sub-regions. The district is situated between  Dar es Salaam (the country’s largest city and commercial centre) and Dodoma (the country’s capital city). This makes it vulnerable to unplanned and rapid urbanisation and also threatens its sustainability. 

In 2015, two of its main sources of water supply – the Mindu Dam and the rivers and streams from the slopes of the Uluguru mountain – dried up, causing the region to experience severe water shortage. 

But, in a recent address to the country’s Parliament in April,  Prof Makame Mbarawa, Minister for Water, assured the house that his ministry, through Morogoro Urban Water Supply and Sewage Authority (Moruwasa), was implementing an ambitious project. According to the Minister, the project sought to get water from Divue River in Turiani District during the 2020/21 fiscal year via internal revenue sources.  

According to a statement by Mbarawa, “in the 2020/21 fiscal year, the government intends to implement another project for the expansion of a water treatment plant in Mafinga which sources water from Mindu Dam to produce 40,000 cubic metres per day and we implement this project in collaboration with French Development Agency (AFD).”

With the latest funding for its water project, water shortage in Morogoro will most likely become a thing of the past as both governments aim to complete it in 2021. To further reinforce this, Stephanie Mouen, AFD Country Representative for Tanzania, maintained that the project will improve the well-being of the people in Morogoro municipality and their environment.