On 23rd May, 2022, Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu joined other delegations in Accra, Ghana for Africa Development Bank’s (AfDB’s) annual dialogue sessions.
Part of these discussions included brainstorming on the opportunities and challenges facing African countries, among others issues the growing impact of climate change and an impending food shortage due to the steadily rising cost of food. The use of modern and improved technology to help with these crises was part of the talks. Additionally, with the AfDB’s theme in 2022 being renewable energy and climate change, boosting investment injection into the energy sector for both natural gas and renewables across Africa was discussed. The AfDB pledged to help work towards this cause, Tanzania being one of its selected countries in East Africa.
The Tanzanian President pitched the country’s available energy opportunities to AfDB during the conference in the hope for funding for new projects and continued support on projects Tanzania is already collaborating on with AfDB. She had been named the 2022 recipient of the Africa Road Builders–Babacar Ndiaye Trophy, an annual prize by infrastructure information platform Acturoutes and sponsored by AfDB, for steering forward her country’s critical infrastructure development in a “prioritized” manner. Her receiving the award in April this year marked historical grounds as her being the first ever female recipient of the award.
Among multiple other local and regional projects, Samia’s government is currently working on the $1.9Billion 2,724km Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) – which is intended for connecting the country to others within the East African trade bloc.
