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Tanzania Says $300 Million World Bank Funding Still Available

Tanzania Says $300 Million World Bank Funding Still Available

(Bloomberg) -- Tanzania will still receive $300 million in World Bank funding for secondary school education, the presidency said after a visit by the lender’s vice president, Hafez Ghanem.

Several newspapers and broadcasters reported in the past two weeks that the World Bank blocked the funding after President John Magufuli said his government would not allow girls who fall pregnant and deliver a baby back to school.

“He has come to assure us that the World Bank will not leave us,” Magufuli said of Ghanem’s visit in a statement emailed by his office. The Washington-based lender has development projects in Tanzania worth $5.2 billion, Magufuli said.

The East African leader is facing criticism for what some advocacy groups and Western governments say is growing authoritarianism against the media, human-rights activists and political opposition. The European Union said Friday it was reviewing its policies toward Tanzania after recalling its ambassador earlier this month, citing a worsening human-rights situation.

To contact the reporter on this story: Helen Nyambura in Nairobi at hnyambura@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: Paul Richardson at pmrichardson@bloomberg.net, Pauline Bax

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