The Board of Directors of the Public Procurement Regulatory Authority (PPRA) conducted a working visit on 15 December 2025 to water projects being implemented by the Tanga Urban Water Supply and Sanitation Authority (Tanga UWASA), emphasizing the importance of allocating tenders to youth, women, the elderly, and persons with disabilities.

Speaking after touring the projects and receiving a presentation from the management of Tanga UWASA, the Chairperson of the PPRA Board of Directors, Prof. Leonada Mwagike, commended the Authority for the effective implementation of its projects and urged it to continue prioritizing local companies as well as groups comprising youth, women, the elderly, and persons with disabilities.

Prof. Mwagike stated that the Public Procurement Act, 2023 provides special preference to local companies compared to foreign firms, including a provision that reserves tenders valued at up to TZS 50 billion exclusively for local companies.

Accordingly, she called upon Tanga - UWASA to continue creating opportunities for Tanzanians and emphasized that, where tenders are awarded to foreign companies due to technical requirements or capital capacity, local companies should be involved to enable them to build capacity.

She further stressed the importance of public institutions continuing to utilize the National e-Procurement System of Tanzania (NeST), which has now advanced to include electronic contract management (e-contract management) and electronic payment (e-payment). This development helps ensure timely and quality service delivery while guaranteeing prompt payments to suppliers and contractors.

On his part, PPRA Director General, Mr. Dennis Simba, underscored the importance of allocating tenders to youth, women, the elderly, and persons with disabilities, noting that being categorized as a special group does not imply operational weakness. Rather, these groups are capable of implementing projects when they meet the required criteria, although they often face challenges related to limited capital capacity.

He explained that such groups should be encouraged to form associations or consortia in order to strengthen their collective capacity and ability to execute various tenders, including technical contracts, whose values may reach up to TZS 500 million.

“We still observe a perception that special groups should only be awarded small or non-technical tenders. This perception is incorrect. Youth, women, the elderly, and persons with disabilities are capable of executing even technical tenders, provided they meet the required criteria. Their main limitation is capital strength, which is why we encourage them to unite and build collective capacity,” said Mr. Simba.

He added that it is essential to ensure that at least 30 percent of the public procurement budget is reserved and allocated to special groups. Furthermore, even in tenders awarded to large contractors, provisions may be included to require subcontracting portions of the work to youth, women, the elderly, and persons with disabilities, with the objective of building their financial and technical capacity.

Mr. Simba also commended Tanga UWASA for its innovation in establishing a revenue source through the issuance of a Green Bond, noting that the Authority is among the leading water utilities in terms of performance across several areas. However, he emphasized the need to continue adhering to procurement procedures and ensuring the quality of all implemented projects in the broader national interest.

“We must ensure value for money in every project while maintaining high quality standards so that our projects reflect citizens’ expectations in addressing their challenges and promoting development,” he said.

Meanwhile, the Chairperson of the Tanga UWASA Board, Dr. Fungo Ally Fungo, expressed his appreciation to PPRA for conducting the working visit, stating that it had served as an important reminder of key areas to be observed in project implementation. He pledged that Tanga UWASA would continue to work closely with PPRA to ensure that project implementation fully complies with the Public Procurement Act and its Regulations.