East Africa: Tanzania And Burundi to Jointly Build a Multi Million Dollars Railway

Two East African countries, Tanzania and Burundi have struck a bilateral deal of building a Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) which is 282 kilometers. The project is to start from Uvinza in Tanzania’s region of Kigoma to Gitega in Burundi. The project is to cover 156km of the SGR in Tanzania while Burundi will have 126km of the SGR.

Now, the two east African countries have begun the process of seeking funds for the actualization of the project which is expected to be nothing less than $900 million. The project is to be jointly financed by both countries.

According to Tanzania’s Minister of Finance and planning, Mwigulu Nchemba, “Today, Prof Makame Mbarawa and I, we signed a bilateral agreement with the government of Burundi to build a Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) from Uvinza, Tanzania, to Gitega, Burundi.”

He went further to state, “We have agreed with my counterpart, Minister of Finance in Burundi, to look for areas we can get funds to jointly finance the project.”

The SGR project will serve as a link to neighboring countries that are landlocked such as Burundi, Uganda, Rwanda, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) to Dar es Salaam Port.

As soon as it is completed, it is expected that the new railway will be a replacement for the outdated meter-gauge railway system. There is hope the project will reduce congestion on the road as well as cut down 40% of freight costs.

Credit: eyegambia