Tanzania: World Bank suspends funding for US$150 million tourism initiative

By means of Ere-ebi Agedah Imisi

The World Bank has suspended funding for a tourism project in Tanzania that has caused suffering for tens of thousands of residents.

As a US-based rights group, the Oakland Institute, which has long encouraged the global lender to take such action, noted that the World Bank’s decision to halt the $150 million project was long overdue.

In a statement on Tuesday, the Oakland Institute said a project that has displaced communities from their settlements to boost the country’s tourism potential should not be funded by the World Bank.

According to the Oakland Institute, although the project aims to improve the management of natural resources and tourism facilities in a remote area of ​​southern Tanzania, the project has resulted in serious damage to local communities.

The initiative began in 2017 and has already received at least $100 million in funding.

The Oakland Institute, a rights advocacy organization based in California that works with disadvantaged groups, has for years led calls for the World Bank to stop funding the regrow project, which documents serious violations of the rights of the region’s indigenous people.

In a report released in November, the group accused the World Bank of failing to hold Tanzanian authorities accountable for extrajudicial killings and assaults related to the expansion of Ruaha National Park.

However, in a report published by the relevant press, the World Bank stated in recent correspondence with the Oakland Institute that no more financing for the regrowth will be provided “until it is confident that the project maintains our environmental and social standards.” ”

Similarly, the Executive Director of the Oakland Institute, Anuradha Mittal, emphasized that the World Bank’s move to stop financing “a dangerous project” is a victory for the country’s underserved areas in East Africa.