AFRICA: A US$2·15bn contract awarded on January 29 will see construction of an electrified standard gauge railway from Uvinza in Tanzania to Musongati in Burundi. It will be the first main line railway in the land-locked east African country.
The contract was signed by Tanzanian and Burundian government officials with China Railway Engineering Group and China Railway Engineering Design & Consulting Group. Finance is being provided by the African Development Bank through a concessional loan.
‘This is a very significant moment because it marks the first foray of AfDB in the financing of Tanzania’s railway projects’, said Tanzania’s Finance Minister Mwigulu Nchemba.
The line will allow the export of minerals including nickel, platinum, palladium, copper, gold and iron from Burundi to the Tanzanian port of Dar es Salaam, with expected flows of up to 3 million tonnes annually.
The railway will be built in two sections. The Tanzanian segment will branch north from the planned Tabora – Kigoma line at Uvinza, around 60 km east of Lake Tanganyika, and will run for approximately 120 km to reach the border at the Malagarasi river. There, a 1 km long combined road-rail bridge will be built. The Burundian section of the line will then continue northwards to reach Musongati.
A memorandum of understanding between Tanzania and Burundi to build the link was signed in January 2022. In December 2022 the Tanzanian government signed a US$2·2bn contract with Chinese companies to build the 411 km Tabora – Uvinza – Kigoma line, which branches west off the standard gauge Dar es Salaam – Mwanza railway.
