Arusha — THE Arab Bank for Economic Development of Africa (BADEA) is to give Tanzania a concessional loan of 10 million US dollars (about 15.9bn/).

An agreement to that effect was signed here on Thursday by the Minister for Finance and Economic Affairs, Dr William Mgimwa, on behalf of the government and BADEA Director General, Mr Abdelaziz Khelef, on the sidelines of AfDB Annual General Meeting.

Dr Mgimwa said in a statement that the funds will be spent on the construction of Wete-Chakechake road on Pemba Island.He said the total cost of the project is $23 million (about 34.5bn/-).The minister said apart from BADEA, the Saudi Fund would contribute 10 million US dollars and the government of Tanzania 3 million US dollars.

He said construction of the road is scheduled to start in October, this year and be completed in October 2014."The objective of the project is to improve access between Wete and Chakechake on Pemba Island," he said.