Success Stories

The East African country of Tanzania, known for its vast areas of wilderness, is home to 56 million people. Its deep lakes and tall mountains, swathes of jungle and broad savannas are interwoven by roads that extend more than 86,500 kilometers and connect the country to its eight border nations. Tanzania is notable within Africa for its lack of ethnic tension, and citizens from more than one hundred tribal backgrounds live, work, and transact together freely. This peace is driven by a common identity as Tanzanians over all else, and has led the country to a stability welcoming to tourism and trade. Despite these positive attributes, the country’s economic and social development has been stunted by a lack of infrastructure investment. Agriculture has played an important role in Tanzania’s economic development since the country’s founding in 1963, and today accounts for 32% of GDP and 30% of exports while employing over half of the country’s workforce. However, farms and other natural resources are often distant from the Atlantic port of Dar es Salaam and other population centers, and poor infrastructure makes long-range and local transport of goods difficult and international trade routes unreliable.

Most transport in Tanzania is by roads, which are typically unpaved, unreliable or deteriorating; even major roads are often dirt surfaces unsuitable for heavy traffic, leading to incidents that block transport of goods and people. The rainy season from November to March renders some roads unusable, isolating villages from neighboring settlements and restricting access to education, medical care, and normal trade. Low rural sector productivity across the country arises from these infrastructure conditions among other factors, and the country’s full potential at the terminus of the Central Corridor Trade Route (CCTR) remains unrealized.

As a consequence, Tanzania struggles to achieve its goal of becoming a semi-industrial nation that can eradicate hunger, reduce poverty, and achieve sustainable economic development. The country stands to benefit greatly from infrastructure improvements that will promote economic activity and improve living conditions.

Its government has committed to a detailed development plan as part of Tanzania Development Vision 2025, which includes paving 15% of the country’s total road by 2025. By facilitating the movement of agricultural products and increasing economic activities, Tanzania aims to achieve UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 1, 2, 9 and 17. To assist in reaching these goals, the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development funded the upgrade of Kidahwe- Uvinza road in rural northwestern Tanzania.

In 2011, the Abu Dhabi Fund for Development (ADFD) allocated AED169 million (equivalent to USD46 million) to finance the surface upgrade of the Kidahwe-Uvinza road in rural northwestern Tanzania. The project directly supported the area’s transportation infrastructure and promised further benefits to the local economy, international trade and rural living standards upon completion. In pursuit of its goal to help developing countries surmount challenges, bolster sustainable economic development, and improve the living standards of their people, ADFD has funded several projects in Tanzania that directly impact economic and social progress. Since ADFD commenced activities in Tanzania in 1977, the country has received AED233 million to finance development projects in key economic sectors that support sustainable development, including a clean water project in rural Zanzibar, the Kagera Sugar Company, and upgrade of further road segments.

ADFD provides vital support to public sector projects in developing countries that face challenges in the field of economic development. Through a special focus on transport and infrastructure projects of strategic priority, the fund aims to promote sustainable development and generate positive social and economic effects in beneficiary countries around the world. Since its inception 48 years ago, ADFD has allocated more than AED92 billion to thousands of projects, benefiting 90 nations.* The Kidahwe-Uvinza road upgrade project provides a model for partnership between the government of the Republic of Tanzania and ADFD, and for the global partnerships required to meet SDG 17.

The small towns of Kidahwe and Uvinza are in the Kigoma region of northwestern Tanzania—a sloping plateau of gently rolling hills that descend to Lake Tanganyika, the deepest lake in Africa and a bountiful source of fish. The region’s 2.1 million inhabitants live in towns and villages scattered across dense forests, river valleys and agricultural lands dotted with salt mines. Their primary occupation is agriculture, with 93% of residents engaged in farming or fishing and 30% in related commerce, but locals often struggle to access markets for their goods.

The trade hub of Dar es Salaam is an essential outflow for agricultural goods produced in the Kigoma region. However, the route from Kigoma port to Dar es Salaam was unsuitable for trucks, requiring alternative routes that add up to 300 km to a an already 1,243 km journey. Similarly, high-quality salt mines in the region exported to Burundi, Rwanda and Democratic Republic of Congo via an indirect route, increasing costs and lowering profits. In line with the infrastructure targets of SDG 9, the road surface upgrade would improve access to services and trade for rural communities between Kidahwe and Uvinza, and serve as one link in Tanzania 2025’s roads rehabilitation project aimed at connecting cities across Tanzania and neighboring countries.

In 2009, the route between Kidahwe and Uvinza was a dirt road topped with gravel that could only be used when dry, and the route neglected many villages in valleys. Travel times were lengthy where possible, and residents lacked access to social, health and education services as well as affordable passenger travel between cities.

Over 34 months of work, the 76 kilometer dirt road from Kidahwe to Uvinza was upgraded to an asphalted road with a double layer of bitumen. At the peak of construction, the project employed 450 workers and is estimated to have created more than 900 total jobs, including suppliers to the project and vendors supplying workers in rural areas.

Overall Impact

Following the project’s completion in October 2013, the road was officially opened by then-President Jakaya Kikwete, the UAE Ambassador to Tanzania and a delegation from ADFD in the presence of senior Tanzanian government officials and many community members.

The upgraded Kidahwe-Uvinza road offers one lane for each direction of travel, with a speed limit of 60 km/h in populated areas and 100 km/h in uninhabited areas. The road serves at least 1 million people of the 2 million living in Kigoma region. The road has reduced the driving distance between Kigoma and Dar es Salaam by 300 kilometers, improving the usability of the Central Corridor Trade Route, and has also improved trade connections with the Shinyanga, Tabora and Katavi regions. Other benefits include reduced local travel time, improved road riding quality and reduced vehicle operation costs due to lower fuel consumption. Vehicular traffic has tripled to 382 vehicles per day, including significant increases in truck fleets and private cars. Road safety in general has improved, especially since strict monitoring of speed via traffic cameras was.

Economic Impact

African Bank studies report that the primary occupation of the region’s population is agriculture at 93.7%, followed by 30.4% involved in trade as a second occupation and 1.3% working in sewing, fishing, mechanics, carpentry and other small crafts. By improving market accessibility, the road upgrade has positively impacted the ability of individual residents to bring their produce and wares to demand points, including markets in Kidahwe and Uvinza. Facilitated transport of commodities also benefits middlemen, who now provide more and better-paying jobs to the local population. The region’s annual exports of 23,000 tons of salt to Burundi, Rwanda and Democratic Republic of Congo are now transported directly to the Kigoma port, reducing costs and transport times.

In accordance with Tanzania Development Vision 2025, the country aims to deepen private sector involvement in industry in order to transform the agricultural economy into a semi-industrial economy with better development potential. The improvements in Kigoma’s transportation infrastructure make it an attractive prospect for local and foreign investors in agricultural processing. Existing industries processing salt and fish will be supplemented by pending investments in palm oil and fruit processing, and will further improve the region’s economic growth.

Social Impact

The road upgrade’s most important social impact is in providing usable road surface in all weather conditions to the villages through which it passes. Residents are now able to easily access social services including health centers, schools, and even places of worship in the Kigoma region. Improved connections between communities have reduced travel time and cost, strengthening social and economic ties and improving security, especially in remote valley villages. The upgraded road surface has also simplified and shortened passenger bus routes, with travel times between Kigoma, Uvinza and Dar es Salaam decreasing. Residents benefit from improved mobility as the number of commuter buses has increased from only 3 to 30, with an accompanying reduction in ticket prices. The transition from dirt roads to bituminized asphalt is expected to reduce the incidence of dustrelated respiratory illnesses in these villages. Crucially, the residents of rural Kigoma region have experienced an increase in income as the road provides market access to 93% of its serviced population. For example, fishermen from Lake Tanganyika are now able to sell their wares to villages along the road as well as in neighboring cities, while farmers bring fresh fruit and vegetables to local markets. Improved availability of fresh food and higher incomes are projected to reduce child malnutrition and hunger, and contribute to achieving SDG 2. While the road upgrade’s total impact on poverty reduction has not yet been assessed, the increased trade and social links have directly enhanced the lives of citizens across the Kigoma region.