East African Business Week

DAR ES SALAAM, TANZANIA - Tanzania is assured of US$30m from the World Bank for the development of a national statistics system.
According to a statement by the World Bank office in Dar es Salaam, the project will cost USD 64.4m and Tanzania is expecting some more money from other development partners through basket funding agreement, including some $10m from the United Kingdom as well as $4.9m from Canada.
The project aims at providing relevant, timely and reliable data for evidence-based policy making in support of the Government's implementation of its poverty reduction strategies and the process of economic development. Among of the strategies currently being implemented is the National Strategy for Growth and Reduction of Poverty (NSGRP), and the Tanzania Development Vision 2025 which is currently under review to determine its strengths and shortfalls after 10 years. The strategies aim at reducing income poverty and improve the provision of social services to Tanzanians.  
The national statistics system is expected to contribute to increased transparency in government dealings and hence better governance and accountability by providing reliable, relevant and freely accessible information for civil society, media, researchers and analysts. It will even enable effective public expenditure tracking of government funds.
"This project will provide the resources to improve the data needed to support an evidence-based planning and decision-making culture, thereby complementing other  processes, such as budget management and auditing," said Thomas Danielewitz, the World Bank's Task Team Leader for the project.