France gives BoT over 6.5bn/- loan

Tanzania will continue getting aid offered by France to sub-Saharan Africa after showing satisfactory progress in social development.
The assurance has been shown in Dar es Salaam by French Ambassador to Tanzania Jacques Champagne de Labriolle at the signing ceremony of a 6.5bn/- loan given by France Development Agency (Proparco) to the Bank of Africa.
“Tanzania will continue receiving a lion’s share of aid from France because we are satisfied with the way they spend foreign assistance,” noted the ambassador.
He said the French government was impressed by the social progress registered by Tanzania, something, which he said, was a motive behind his government’s commitment to continue assisting the East African country.
The ambassador said bilateral relationships between Tanzania were historical that was the reason Tanzania continued enjoying assistance from his government. “We will continue doing so,” he noted.
De Labriolle said his government had been assisting the government to provide clean and safe water for consumption from Lake Victoria to surrounding regions like Mwanza, Kagera and Musoma.
“We aim at promoting Tanzania’s development socially and economically in order to fight poverty so that people can have excess to social development,” said Labriolle.
He cited one of the success stories implemented by the two governments as the construction of the national tourism college in Dar es Salaam, which was at a final stage.
Despite France’s readiness to provide massive development funding to Tanzania, the latter must make sure it utilises the funds as intended.
On the same occasion, Bank of Africa Tanzania Limited managing director Kobby Andah and the Proparco regional representative in East Africa Gghislain de Valon signed a US$4.5 million (about 6.5bn/-) loan agreement
Speaking at the event, the Proparco regional representative said the loan aimed at assisting through the bank, that was why they provided the long-term loan (seven years).
He expressed optimism that the loan package would stabilise the bank’s capital, thus enabling the financial institution to provide loans to its customers for financial business and other investment projects.
Bank of Africa Tanzania Limited managing director Kobby Andah said the loan would have a positive impact on the customers of the bank, whose business and related ventures had stuck for long because of working capital.

SOURCE: THE GUARDIAN