Korea Eximbank backs Tanzania's AI ambitions with $170 million development loan

Korea will provide a $170 million development loan to Tanzania to build an artificial intelligence (AI) and digital technology training institute, marking the first AI-focused project financed through the country's official development assistance fund, the Export-Import Bank of Korea (Korea Eximbank) said Thursday. The loan agreement was signed the previous day in Tanzania's Dar es Salaam by Lee Dong-hoon, a senior executive director of the state-run lender, and Natu E. Mwamba, Tanzania's deputy finance minister. The project is the first under the government's so-called "K-AI Package," a development cooperation initiative that combines infrastructure financing with support for AI technology in developing countries. It also marks the first AI-related project financed by the country's Economic Development Cooperation Fund (EDCF), which provides long-term, low-interest loans to developing countries. The planned institute in Tanzania will be built on a 35,000-square-meter site, roughly the size of five soccer fields. It will train workers in physical AI — technologies that enable machines