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Mtwara. The Aga Khan Development Network (AKDN), in cooperation with the European Union (EU), has given a Sh188.32 million subsidy to entrepreneurs in Lindi and Mtwara regions in order to help them encounter economic effects brought about by the Covid-19.

The subsidy is part of a project run jointly by the EU and Aga Khan to encounter the effects of the Covid-19 in the four nations of Tanzania, Kenya Uganda and Mozambique.

At least 112 groups with a total of 1,290 members in the regions have benefited from the subsidy.

The supervisor of the project from the Aga Khan Foundation in Tanzania, Ms Tarcile Mballa, said they learnt about the structure of the project from a social development fund.

Ms Mballa also said they learnt from other institutions providing subsidies while reviewing various reports indicating the groups economically affected by the pandemic.

She said over a decade ago the Aga Khan Foundation had been working with banking and lending groups, whose activities were affected by the Covid-19.

Due to the pandemic, Ms Mballa explained that members of the groups were unable to save up money and they repaid loans slowly unlike it was before.

“The purpose of this project is to ensure the groups get back to business as we intend. It isn’t about receiving subsidies. We intend to see the strengthening of the groups and their growth as well,” said Mballa.

For his part, the project coordinator, Japhet Wangwe, said, besides proving subsidies, the Aga Khan Foundation, in cooperation with other players, has launched a digital system of coordinating the activities of the groups so that they could be carried out all the time.

“When calamities intensify, the activities of the groups are carried out in difficult but through digitalisation things will be possible to be done all the time and even the moneys of the groups will be safer,” said Mr Wangwe.

For his part, Lindi District Commissioner Shaibu Ndemanga said the Covid-19 pandemic caused health and economic effects and apart from people suffering and dying of the disease, wealth production activities stopped or were sluggishly carried out.