Tanzania launches $3.1bn railway in drive to boost infrastructure
Tanzania on Thursday launched a 541 km modern standard gauge railway running between its administrative and commercial capitals, built by a Turkish firm as part of a government drive to improve transport infrastructure.
African governments have been racing to build infrastructure like roads, railways and bridges, though critics have questioned some of the loans taken from countries like China to fund the drive saying they are saddling future generations with debt.
Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan flagged off the electric train services at a ceremony in the commercial capital Dar es Salaam, before boarding a train for a four-hour trip to the administrative capital, Dodoma.
The $3.1-billion line was built by Turkish firm Yapi Merkezi. The two sections launched on Thursday are part of a planned 2 561 km rail network which is expected to boost domestic and regional trade when completed.
Tanzania signed a $1.46-billion loan agreement with Standard Chartered Bank Tanzania in 2020 to partly fund the section of stretch launched on Thursday.
"We are continuing to construct the railway up to Kigoma until we connect with the neighbouring countries so that we can improve our businesses," Hassan told cheering residents in one of the train stations in the outskirts of Dar es Salaam.
Hassan's government is also building a rail network towards the Lake Victoria port city of Mwanza and preparing to start construction of another line to Kigoma in the west to connect with Burundi and Democratic Republic of Congo.
"This railway is going to liberate our businesses," she said at a stop in the eastern Tanzanian city of Morogoro.
Once the Burundi link is operational, the two nations expect to transport three million tons of minerals annually including nickel to Dar es Salaam's port, according to the Tanzanian finance ministry.
Comments
Research Reports
Latest Multimedia
Latest News
Showroom
For over 60 years, VEGA has provided industry-leading products for the measurement of level, density, weight and pressure. As the inventor of the...
VISIT SHOWROOM
Avlock International is a leading manufacturer and distributor of Specialized Fastening Systems.
VISIT SHOWROOM
Announcements
What's On
Subscribe to improve your user experience...
Option 1 (equivalent of R125 a month):
Receive a weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine
(print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
Receive daily email newsletters
Access to full search results
Access archive of magazine back copies
Access to Projects in Progress
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
Option 2 (equivalent of R375 a month):
All benefits from Option 1
PLUS
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports, in PDF format, on various industrial and mining sectors
including Electricity; Water; Energy Transition; Hydrogen; Roads, Rail and Ports; Coal; Gold; Platinum; Battery Metals; etc.
Already a subscriber?
Forgotten your password?
Receive weekly copy of Creamer Media's Engineering News & Mining Weekly magazine (print copy for those in South Africa and e-magazine for those outside of South Africa)
➕
Recieve daily email newsletters
➕
Access to full search results
➕
Access archive of magazine back copies
➕
Access to Projects in Progress
➕
Access to ONE Research Report of your choice in PDF format
RESEARCH CHANNEL AFRICA
R4500 (equivalent of R375 a month)
SUBSCRIBEAll benefits from Option 1
➕
Access to Creamer Media's Research Channel Africa for ALL Research Reports on various industrial and mining sectors, in PDF format, including on:
Electricity
➕
Water
➕
Energy Transition
➕
Hydrogen
➕
Roads, Rail and Ports
➕
Coal
➕
Gold
➕
Platinum
➕
Battery Metals
➕
etc.
Receive all benefits from Option 1 or Option 2 delivered to numerous people at your company
➕
Multiple User names and Passwords for simultaneous log-ins
➕
Intranet integration access to all in your organisation
