World Bank holds back on Tanzania loan

The World Bank, the international institution that provides loans to some of the world’s poorest countries, has postponed a $500 million loan it was due to give Tanzania, following pressure from activists.

The money was going to be used to provide an alternative education to teenage mothers and was to be subjected to a vote on Tuesday.

In Tanzania a colonial-era law that bars teenage mothers and pregnant girls from going to school has caused significant controversy.

The World Bank sought to provide pregnant girls access to “alternative education pathways,” but activists argued it was providing the law legitimacy.

In a letter to the bank, activists said the old law had been given a new lease of life by the incumbent president, John Magufuli, and that officials had been “overzealous” in implementing it.

They added the “discriminatory policy” was denying thousands of girls the chance to get an education.

A proposal outlining the loan states that, since 2017, around 5,500 girls had been denied the chance to go to school because they were pregnant.

Yesterday the president attempted to alleviate fears, saying “The vice-president of the World Bank came here last year – they will give us money knowing Tanzania’s stand and what we are doing.

“The rest [of the people] are just noise makers, don’t even respond to them.”

This is not the first time the World Bank has come into conflict with Magufuli’s government over this law; it withdrew an $800 million loan for the same reason in 2018.

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