Chinese Government provides grant worth TZS 22.4 billion — via an October 2017 ETCA — for Kagera Vocational and Technical School Construction Project (Linked to Record ID#70921)

Project narrative

The first report of a possible Kagera Vocational and Technical School Construction Project came in a Chinese Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) report. Then, after 4 years without any apparent progress, on November 26, 2018, representatives from the Chinese Government and the Chinese Government signed an Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), which allocated 22.4 billion Tanzanian Shillings (TZS) of grant funding for the Kagera Vocational and Technical School Construction Project. The grant funds were drawn — at least in part — from an Economic and Technical Cooperation Agreement (ETCA) that the Chinese Government and the Government of Tanzania signed on October 13, 2017. The ETCA committed $13 million USD of grant funding for the Kagera Vocational and Technical School Construction Project and several other projects (as captured via Record ID#70921). The purpose of the project was to construct the Kagera Regional Vocational Training and Service Centre with a total construction area of about 6,000 square meters. The school was designed with 19 classrooms and 9 training workshops, including electronics, welding, machining, plumbing, carpentry, masonry, painting and other specialties. Upon completion, the school was expected to offer long or short-term training to nearly 3,000 students and offer accommodation to 350 people. Shanxi International Economic and Technical Cooperation Co., Ltd. was the contractor responsible for project implementation. A formal groundbreaking ceremony took place on November 28, 2019 and the project was originally expected to reach completion within 18 months (May 28, 2021). The project was ultimately completed on April 30, 2022. A formal project handover ceremony took place on October 19, 2022.