British Aid

You can find out all about British Aid to Tanzania by clicking on this link. It will take you to DFID’s excellent paper. Here is a brief extract:

• The UK has provided development aid to Tanzania for 35 years. Tanzania is one of DFID’s largest bilateral programmes in Africa. Assistance to the country more than tripled from £40 million in 1997/98 to £130 million by 2008/09. On current projections, the UK will continue to be the second largest development partner (following the World Bank) and Tanzania’s largest bilateral development partner over the next four years.

• Tanzania is a low-income, good development performer. It is heavily aid dependent (approximately 40% of the budget is funded though aid) but has demonstrated macro-economic stability and 5-7% annual growth rates since 2000. Tanzania has a strong policy environment for poverty reduction, with demonstrable country ownership and national commitment to development.

• The UK’s objectives to help reduce poverty form an integral part of wider interests in the country which include: promoting peace and stability; strengthening democracy; promoting growth; supporting sustainable development and the rule of law. The aim is to provide high quality development support and assist Tanzania to make faster progress towards the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

• DFID seeks to bring about six medium-term changes that it believes are a prerequisite for Tanzania to make significant progress towards the MDGs. These are drawn from and contribute to the Tanzanian Government’s key policy statements including Mkukuta and Vision 2025: (1) Promoting broad-based and sustained growth; (2) Assisting the Government of Tanzania to develop policy, planning and resource allocation decisions that are better aligned and evidence-based; (3) Increasing the capacity and effectiveness of government to provide improved services; (4) Enabling all Tanzanians, particularly the poor and vulnerable, increasingly to access quality basic services and social protection measures; (5) Enabling Tanzanians to claim and exercise their rights as citizens, including through a strengthened civil society; (6) Contributing to a step-change in the efficiency and effectiveness of the international system in Tanzania.