DAR ES SALAAM, March 5 (Xinhua) -- The African Development Bank (AfDB) on Tuesday released a concessional loan of 256.2 million U.S. dollars to Tanzania to support construction of a 260-kilometer Kasulu-Manyovu road project in western region of Kigoma.

An agreement on the loan was signed in the commercial capital Dar es Salaam between Tanzania's Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Finance and Planning, Doto James, and the AfDB Country Manager for Tanzania, Alex Mubiru.

James said the loan will help funding completion of the construction of the road which was estimated to take five years of implementation, facilitating economic activities in the western corridor.

The official added: "This road section forms an integral part of the Central Transport Corridor, which plays an important role in the development and facilitation of national and international trade flows in the region."

He said the successful implementation of the project will link the port of Dar es Salaam with the country's western regions and open up regional markets in Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

He said the project will also involve development of social infrastructure including rehabilitation of markets and community water supply and sanitation and construction of health centers in project areas.

AfDB Country Manager Mubiru said the signing of the loan agreement increased the transport sector portfolio of the AfDB Group in Tanzania to approximately 880 million U.S. dollars.

"On behalf of the AfDB, I would like to reaffirm our commitment in supporting the people and the government of Tanzania in their efforts to realize the aspiration to become a middle-income country in the near future," said the AfDB official. Enditem

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