DODOMA: WHEN Tanzania reflects on the past four years under President Samia Suluhu Hassan, one theme stands out: transformation powered not only by political will, but by partnerships that have delivered visible change. Among those partners, the African Development Bank (AfDB) has emerged as one of the most influential players shaping the country’s infrastructure, agriculture, and private sector landscape.
While development banks often operate in the background, the AfDB’s imprint on Tanzania from 2021–2025 reads almost like a parallel story of the nation’s ambitions, one told through highways, transmission lines, rural markets, and classrooms.
In this relatively short period, the AfDB under the leadership of its Country Representative in Tanzania, Dr. Patricia Laverley, injected more than $2.2bn US dollars into Tanzania’s development agenda. Much of it went into areas that economists describe as the “bloodstream” of national growth: energy, transport, water, agriculture, and governance.
The distribution of the funding tells its own story, over 65 percent directed to infrastructure alone, signalling the bank’s belief that long-term prosperity rests on strong systems rather than piecemeal interventions. And the results have been difficult to ignore.
Anyone who has followed the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) conversation knows how pivotal it is for trade, especially across the East African region. The AfDB’s investment of over 600m US dollars into the SGR is helping ease the cost of logistics and strengthening Tanzania’s position as a regional transport hub.
Away from the high-speed narrative of rail, the quiet upgrade of nearly 700 kilometers of gravel roads into modern bitumen-standard roads has reshaped rural mobility and access to markets. Dar es Salaam’s growing Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) network, now with 23 additional kilometers, is gradually redefining how urban residents move.
On the energy front, the changes have been even more transformative. High-voltage transmission lines stretching close to 800 kilometers now link regions like Iringa, Dodoma and Singida, supported by new 220kV and 400kV substations. These are the kinds of investments that don’t make front-page news but make everything else possible: from powering factories to ensuring households get reliable electricity.
The Bank’s role also extended beyond construction. Tanzania’s hosting of the Mission 300 Heads of State Summit on Energy in early 2025, an event that mobilised over 50bn US dollars in commitments for Africa, cemented its place as an emerging energy diplomacy giant.
Improved access to clean water is one of the most life-changing but often underreported achievements. Thanks to AfDB-supported investments, Tanzania’s water coverage rose from 60 percent to 83 percent by early 2025. This single shift has a ripple effect: fewer waterborne diseases, reduced healthcare burdens, and more time for women and children who often shoulder the responsibility of fetching water.
Given that agriculture employs more than 65 percent of Tanzanians, the AfDB’s strategy in this sector has leaned heavily toward strengthening rural economies. The construction of 10 rural markets equipped with cold rooms and ice plants has been a game-changer for farmers who struggle with post-harvest losses.
New warehouses, rehabilitated storage facilities, and training centers now support thousands of smallholder farmers. With 350 extension officers trained, nearly half a million rural households have seen improved incomes and food security, a quiet yet profound transformation across the countryside.
Perhaps the most compelling part of Tanzania’s development story has been the rising confidence in its private sector. Since 2021, the AfDB has supported reforms that make it easier to start and grow businesses, strengthened regulatory systems, and expanded access to finance.
This has translated into real outcomes: more young people enrolled in tertiary education, more women accessing financing, and more small businesses getting the capital they once struggled to find. In fact, women-led SMEs accessing credit through AfDB-supported lines of credit rose from zero to 65 percent in just four years.
The Bank’s contributions have not only boosted Tanzania’s growth projections, expected to reach 6.1 percent in 2025, but have also aligned with broader goals: gender equality, climate resilience, low-carbon development, and long-term competitiveness.
Carbon emissions linked to transport dropped from 0.095 (kg per 2017 PPP $ of GDP) to 0.0797 by 2025, a testament to the environmental dimension embedded in infrastructure decisions.
Looking back, AfDB’s role in Tanzania between 2021 and 2025, under Dr. Laverley, is less about the dollar value and more about the ecosystem of opportunities created. From modern transport systems to empowered farmers and financially included women entrepreneurs, the Bank has woven itself into Tanzania’s broader development fabric.
As the country accelerates toward middle-income aspirations, this partnership appears set to remain one of the driving forces behind its future economic story, an enduring collaboration quietly powering a nation’s rise.