WASHINGTON, March 24, 2025—A new World Bank-financed investment will enhance mobility and accessibility in Tanzania’s capital, Dodoma, unlocking economic opportunities and creating over 10,000 new jobs by 2030, while boosting the city’s economic output by 2%.
The $200 million Dodoma Integrated and Sustainable Transport (DIST) project, just approved by the World Bank Board of Executive Directors, will benefit more than 430,000 residents—over half of the city’s population—including 222,000 women and 81,700 youth.
Financed by the World Bank’s International Development Association* (IDA), the investment will improve urban mobility through upgrading selected corridors, resilient access routes, central business district (CBD) improvements, and enhanced walking and cycling infrastructure. It will also benefit 750 public transport drivers and others in the sector, strengthening livelihoods and ensuring a more efficient and sustainable transport system for Dodoma’s growing population.
"Dodoma’s rapid expansion since 2016 presents both opportunities and challenges,” said Nathan Belete, World Bank Division Director for Malawi, Tanzania, Zambia, and Zimbabwe. “As the city grows, ensuring access to safe and efficient transport is critical to sustaining its economic momentum and improving the quality of life for its residents. This project will help Dodoma grow in a more sustainable way, ensuring that infrastructure keeps pace with the city's ambitions."
In 2016, the Government of Tanzania renewed its commitment to the 1973 decision to transfer the national capital from Dar es Salaam to Dodoma. This entailed significant capital investment and the relocation of government agencies and departments to Dodoma. Since then, the shift has fueled rapid population growth, with the city's residents increasing to 765,179 by 2022, an annual growth rate of 6.4%. However, much of this expansion has strained the city's infrastructure. Dodoma’s built-up area has grown more than 440%since 2000—from 11 km² to 60 km² in 2024—outpacing its population growth and stretching resources thin.
“Addressing urban mobility challenges early on is critical to ensuring sustainable and inclusive growth of the new capital city and avoid uncoordinated growth and sprawl,” said Adam Diehl, World Bank Senior Transport Specialist and Task Team Leader. “As a sector with many different responsible government agencies, ministries and private sector players, bringing a holistic urban mobility planning and development is key to unlocking a more vibrant and economically dynamic city. We are proud to be part of this integrated approach by the Government of Tanzania, and hope Dodoma can serve as a model of collaborative planning for other rapidly growing cities across the country and continent.”
The DIST Project, whose project development objective is to support safe, sustainable, and inclusive accessibility in Dodoma City, comprises of three components:
- The Strategic Multimodal Corridors component focuses on improving the infrastructure and public transport services on the city’s key mobility corridors.
- The Improved Access component will support critical investments to enhance reliable access for residents of the city, including improved local neighborhood and CBD roads that will get new pedestrian, cycling, and public transport infrastructure.
- The Institutional Enabling Environment and Capacity Building component will establish a transport coordination mechanism to align efforts among key stakeholders, such as TANROADS, TARURA, CCD, LATRA, and others.
The DIST will be implemented by the Tanzania National Roads Agency (TANROADS), the City Council of Dodoma (CCD), the Land Transport Regulatory Authority (LATRA), and the Tanzania Rural and Urban Roads Agency (TARURA).
The preparation of DIST also benefited from support from the Global Smart City Partnership Program, the Public-Private Infrastructure Advisory Facility, the Korea Green Growth Trust Fund, Global Facility for Disaster Risk Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR) and the Japan-World Bank Program for Mainstreaming Disaster Risk Management (DRM) in Developing Countries, which is supported by the Government of Japan and managed by GFDRR’s Tokyo DRM Hub.
*The World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA), established in 1960, helps the world’s low-income countries by providing grants and low to zero-interest loans for projects and programs that boost economic growth, reduce poverty, and improve people’s lives. IDA is one of the largest sources of assistance for its 75 client countries, 39 of which are in Africa. Since 1960, IDA has provided $552 billion to 115 countries. Annual commitments have averaged about $36 billion over the last three years (FY21-FY23), with about 75% going to Africa. Learn more online: https://ida.worldbank.org #IDAworks
