Tanzanian finance minister, Mustafa Mkulo, attended, during the week from 5 April-9 April 2010, the AfDB's annual stakeholders cocktail hosted by African Development Bank's (AfDB) Tanzania Resident Representative, Sipho Moyo, in Dar-es-Salaam. During the event, which was attended by senior government officers, civil servants, members of parliament, representatives of donor institutions and countries, African ambassadors, private sector players, the civil society as well as several Tunis-based staff, the AfDB resident representative handed over the chairmanship of Tanzania's General Budget Support (GBS) to Norway.
The AfDB's one-year chairmanship of GBS was the first time that a multilateral institution had chaired the GBS in Tanzania. In his remarks, Mr. Mkulo acknowledged and thanked the AfDB for its critical leadership role in GBS which he described as "...the glue that held government and donors together at a time when the relationship would have collapsed and GBS would have ended for Tanzania. The chair's unique leadership rescued the relationship between donors and the government of Tanzania and for that we thank the African Development Bank". He underscored Ms. Moyo's pivotal role in balancing and maintaining strong dialogue with the Tanzanian government and development partners as well as her dedication to the country's development priorities. The Bank will continue to play an important role in the GBS as outgoing chair for one more year.
The GBS is the government's preferred aid modality in Tanzania and it currently contributes approximately USD 800 million or 12.5 percent to the 2009/2010 budget. The GBS donor group is made up of 14 members, 11 of whom are bilateral donors (UK, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, Finland, Japan, Germany, Ireland, Netherlands, Switzerland and Canada), while three are multilaterals (AfDB, World Bank and European Union).
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Sipho Moyo
