Dar es Salaam, Feb 7 (IANS): The African Development Bank (AfDB) has committed $2.5 billion to the development of priority infrastructure projects in Tanzania, the East African Community (EAC) said.

Mumina Wa-Kyendo, the AfDB chief transport engineer in Tanzania, said projects that will benefit from the funds will include the Tanzanian stretch of the 400-km Tanzania-Kenya road linking Bagamoyo, Pangani, Tanga, Horohoro/Lunga Lunga, Mombasa, and Malindi.

The road, now under construction in both countries, forms part of the Coastal Transport Corridor of East Africa, which stretches from Lamu in Kenya to Mtwara in Tanzania.

Wa-Kyendo discussed the funding in Tanga at the end of a two-day inspection and supervision mission of the Bagamoyo-Pangani-Tanga road stretch by experts from the EAC secretariat, Tanzania's Ministries of Transport and Works, Kenya's Ministry of Roads and Infrastructure, the Northern Corridor Transit and Transport Coordination Authority, and the Central Corridor Transit Transport Facilitation Agency, according to an EAC statement.

He said transport infrastructure development is a key facilitator to trade and integration of countries. "We need to have a region where transport works, put in place roads and railways of the best standards."

The AfDB's funding is conditional on the efficient implementation of projects, which is key to unlocking additional funding, the EAC statement quoted Wa-Kyendo as saying, Xinhua news agency reported.

The African Development Bank Group is a multilateral development finance institution, headquartered in Abidjan, Ivory Coast since September 2014. The AfDB is a financial provider to African governments and private companies investing in the regional member countries.

Their role is to contribute to the sustainable economic development and social progress of the African countries that make up the AfDB's Regional Member Countries (RMCs).