Beijing. The China-Africa Development Fund (CADFund) has reiterated its commitment to prioritising Tanzania in its investment and business financing initiatives, citing the enduring strength of bilateral relations between the two countries.
The pledge was made on June 17, 2025, during a high-level meeting between Tanzania’s minister for Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation, Amb Mahmoud Thabit Kombo, and the chairman of CADFund, Mr Wang Shaodan, in Beijing.
During the talks, Amb Kombo expressed gratitude to the Fund for its sustained support in funding and investing in Tanzanian projects, which are aligned with outcomes of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC).
He called upon the Fund to increase its financial commitment to Tanzania, highlighting the country’s expanding investment landscape.
Chairman Wang noted that since its establishment in 2006, CADFund has signed investment agreements worth over US$800 million in Tanzania. Currently, the Fund is supporting projects in the country with a combined value exceeding $73 million.
He added that CADFund is the second-largest investment fund on the African continent and has channelled financing into diverse sectors in Tanzania, including agriculture, cement manufacturing, broadcasting, and information and communication technology.
He further disclosed that the Fund is in the process of investing in the priority project of upgrading the Tanzania-Zambia Railway Authority (Tazara) infrastructure.
Other priority sectors for support include industrial development, infrastructure, and transportation.
Mr Wang also acknowledged that Amb Kombo’s visit to the Fund’s offices in Beijing was a clear demonstration of Tanzania’s commitment to accelerating the implementation of strategic projects.
For his part, Amb Kombo described the Tanzania–China relationship as exceptional and exemplary, urging CADFund to expand its investment portfolio in the country.
He specifically pointed to new priority areas, including soybean farming, mineral value addition, and tourism development.
These sectors, he said, reflect the renewed areas of cooperation announced by the Chinese government during the recent FOCAC Coordinators’ Meeting held in Changsha, Hunan Province.
It was further noted that CADFund has been working closely with private sector players in both Tanzania and China to enable investment and commercial activities across key sectors.
Also present at the meeting was Mr Wu Guohua, President of the China Development Bank, who revealed that the Bank has allocated approximately $60 million to financial institutions in Tanzania to facilitate access to capital for micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs).
The meeting underscored the growing depth of economic engagement between Tanzania and China, particularly in leveraging development finance to support inclusive growth and strategic sectoral transformation.
