Canada to increase investments

Tanzanian is among nine developing countries scheduled to receive increased investments from Canada, the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA) reported on Wednesday. The agency said it would focus more resources, "as they become available, on a small number of sectors chosen in partnership with the recipient countries themselves, and based on the priorities identified in their national plans for poverty reduction". The other eight countries are Bangladesh, Bolivia, Ethiopia, Ghana, Honduras, Mali, Mozambique and Senegal. According to CIDA, all these are low-income countries, and have in place formal national plans for poverty reduction. In a focus on Canada's 2003 budget, CIDA reported that Canada was committed to providing Tanzania and Mozambique each with an additional C$10 million (about US $6.67) a year for five years to support their plans to provide universal primary education. "This illustrates the type of long-term investments that the agency will be pursuing with these nine countries in the months and years ahead, as decisions are reached on priority sectors and the allocation of resources," the agency reported. CIDA added that more countries may be identified for increased Canadian aid as circumstances and resources permit. See also CIDA