The Office of the Treasury Registrar (OTR) has urged water supply and sanitation authorities across the country to borrow a leaf from Tanga Urban Water Supply and Sanitation Authority (Tanga UWASA) by using alternative sources of financing, including the private sector and communities, to fund strategic projects and reduce reliance on government funding.
Treasury Registrar Nehemiah Mchechu made the call on Monday, October 5, 2026, during a visit to the Third Phase Tanga Water Supply Improvement Project, which is being implemented through a Sh53.12 billion Green Bond issued by Tanga UWASA.
The project is 80 per cent complete and is expected to benefit about 600,000 residents in Tanga City, Muheza Town and Pangani.
Tanga UWASA’s use of the Green Bond has placed the authority in a unique position as the first water institution in Tanzania and East Africa to successfully raise and list such a bond to finance water supply, wastewater and environmental conservation projects.
Speaking during the visit, Mr Mchechu, who was accompanied by the OTR Management, said the achievement demonstrated how public institutions could use innovative financing to implement projects without relying solely on funding from the central government.
He said the use of alternative sources of financing by other water authorities could also enable the Government to redirect funds that would otherwise have been used to finance such projects to other development priorities.
“We look at Tanga UWASA with great admiration for the way it is performing. We want all water institutions to emulate the Tanga UWASA model,” Mchechu said.
He commended Tanga UWASA Board Chairman Dr Fungo Fungo and the management for the achievement, noting that the authority was among the 308 institutions overseen by OTR.
The impact of the innovative financing approach is already evident in the Third Phase Tanga Water Supply Improvement Project, whose implementation began on October 12, 2024.
The Sh53.12 billion project is expected to be completed on November 30, 2026, according to Tanga UWASA Acting Managing Director Eng. Salum Ngumbi.
He said the project involves the expansion and rehabilitation of the Mowe Water Treatment Plant, expansion of the Mabayani pumping station, expansion of the water distribution network and measures to reduce non-revenue water.
Eng. Ngumbi said the works include laying a 600-millimetre-diameter pipeline from Mabayani to Mowe over a distance of 6.4 kilometres, as well as expanding the Mabayani pumping station to increase its pumping capacity from the current 42,000 cubic metres to 72,000 cubic metres of water per day through the installation of four pumps, each with a capacity of 1,500 cubic metres per hour.
The Mowe Water Treatment Plant is also being expanded to increase its water treatment and production capacity from 45,000 to 60,000 cubic metres per day.
The project also involves expanding the water distribution network by 60 kilometres, as well as procuring and installing 10,000 prepaid water meters to help control water losses and strengthen revenue collection.
On wastewater management and environmental conservation, Eng. Ngumbi said the project includes a 1.5-kilometre extension of the wastewater network, rehabilitation of a three-kilometre wastewater pipeline in Ngamiani, and conservation activities aimed at sustaining the Zigi River.