The African Development Bank and the Tanzanian government have signed a $125.2 million loan agreement for a project that will help address water shortages in three districts in the country's Dodoma region.

The Dodoma Resilient and Sustainable Water Development and Sanitation Program (Phase I) will benefit more than two million residents in the Bahi, Chemba and Chamwino districts, which have suffered droughts and recorded high population growth.

Tanzania's Minister of Finance and Planning, Mwigulu Nchemba, and the Bank's Country Manager, Patricia N. Laverley, signed the loan agreement on 16 May in Dar es Salaam. The Bank had approved the loan on 16 March.

Nchemba said: "This has been a long-awaited project by the people of Dodoma. It is a project that the President, Samia Suluhu Hassan, wishes to see implemented. The signing of this loan agreement will bring great benefits to the people and also provide access to safe water for industrial use."

The project entails the construction of the 470-meter Farkwa Water Dam, a 128,000 cubic meter-long clean-up, and a water treatment plant with a capacity of 128,000 cubic meters per day. Implementation will span five years.

Country Manager Laverley said the project would ease the water crisis and improve the livelihood of the affected communities.

Minister Nchemba asked the Bank to consider expanding the project area to include Singida Province, which is also grappling with an acute water problem. He asked that the project scope be expanded to include water for irrigation, livestock use, and aquaculture facilities, to enable more young people to become self-employed, in line with the country's national aspirations.

Cumulatively, the African Development Bank has invested $2.5 billion in 23 development projects in various sectors in Tanzania, including agriculture, water, and road infrastructure.