Tanzania's Ministry of Communications and Information Technology has proposed a budget of 222.6bn/- for the 2026/27 financial year, with 94.1 percent of the total set aside for development projects intended to advance the country's digital economy, according to Daily News. Minister Angellah Kairuki presented the plan in April, describing it as a deliberate move toward wider digital infrastructure, support for ICT startups and stronger national cybersecurity.
The figures sit alongside a series of tower projects run through the Universal Communications Service Access Fund (UCSAF), which the government is using to extend voice and data coverage into areas that commercial operators have not reached. Daily News reports that, as of April 2026, UCSAF had signed agreements with service providers to serve 2,293 wards covering 5,489 villages and a population of 32,568,216. Once those projects are finished, 2,454 towers will have been built.
Why it matters
Rural coverage is the foundation the rest of the government's digital agenda rests on. Without signal in a village, e-government services, mobile money, online learning and digital tax systems cannot function, and the gap between urban and rural opportunity widens. The scale of the UCSAF programme — tens of millions of residents named in the agreements — shows how much of the country's population still depends on publicly funded infrastructure to get online.
The budget also signals where the government intends to spend. Nearly all of the proposed 222.6bn/- is classified as development spending rather than recurrent costs, which suggests construction and equipment rather than administration. Minister Kairuki framed the priorities around reaching citizens in rural areas and making sure those on the periphery are not excluded from the digital shift, Daily News reported.
Towers already standing and towers still to come
According to the UCSAF figures cited by Daily News, 1,979 of the targeted wards — containing 5,074 villages and 29,257,814 residents — are already receiving service from 2,151 completed towers. Work continues in 301 wards, where 301 towers are going up across 388 villages and roughly 3,177,600 people.
A separate 758-tower project has been completed and is reported to benefit 8.5 million citizens. President Samia Suluhu Hassan officiated at its launch ceremony on 10 April 2026. Another programme, covering 287 towers in 287 wards under Phase Ten, was officially launched on 5 December 2025, with a 15-month implementation window and 29bn/- allocated to it.
The ministry is also preparing a project aimed at strategic locations rather than general rural coverage: the Standard Gauge Railway and Meter Gauge Railway corridors, the TAZARA line, border areas and national parks. Daily News reports that data collection, analysis, verification and procurement for that project have been completed, and that 280 towers are expected to be built to serve those sites.
Eight priorities, from broadband to innovation parks
Minister Kairuki listed eight priorities for the coming year. At the top is building and reinforcing the National ICT Broadband Backbone, which the ministry expects to improve internet speed, security and quality. The government will also keep developing the Physical Addressing and Postcode system, which underpins the delivery of social, economic and public services.
The remaining priorities cover extending communication availability in rural areas, strengthening public institutions that carry ICT responsibilities, and continuing construction of ICT innovation hubs intended to develop young talent and generate technology solutions. E-government services, cybersecurity, ICT skills training for youth and collaboration with the private sector complete the list.
Daily News notes that the government has been pushing strategic infrastructure projects since President Samia began her second term, treating communications investment — budget allocations, new infrastructure and human capital — as unavoidable if the transformation is to happen.
Schools get equipment as well as connectivity
Infrastructure alone does not produce a digital economy, and UCSAF has said as much. In October, the fund signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Tanzania Institute of Education, a partnership Daily News links to Dira 2050's goal of using digital transformation as an economic driver. The agreement covers investment in digital educational content and teacher training.
UCSAF has already supplied ICT equipment — computers, projectors and printers — to more than 1,121 public schools and connected them to the internet. The fund's reasoning, as reported, is that content and skills must accompany connectivity if the technology is to be used for public benefit, and that education is among the sectors best placed to gain from it, particularly in closing the learning gap between urban and rural students.
The budget now goes through parliamentary scrutiny, and the tower rollouts under Phase Ten and the strategic-sites project will be the measures to watch against the ministry's targets.
