The Tanzanian government says it has secured funding for the construction of a section of the standard gauge railway (SGR) linking Tanzania and Burundi.
The Tanzania Railways Corporation (TRC) is overseeing the construction of a 2,561-kilometre line that will link the Indian Ocean port of Dar es Salaam to the northwestern city of Mwanza on Lake Victoria, and eventually to Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda and Uganda.
Currently, the section between Dar es Salaam and Dodoma, through Morogoro, is operational, while the other phases are under construction.
TRC acting director general Mateshi Tito said on Thursday that the government had concluded talks with three international financial institutions that will finance the section from Uvinza in Kigoma, Tanzania, to Musongati in Burundi.
“The aforementioned lot will be facilitated by Standard Chartered, China Export and Credit Insurance Corporation (Sinosure) and the Africa Development Bank (AfDB). Very soon we are going to sign the contract to enable the construction of the section to begin,” he said.
Mr Tito, however, did not reveal the exact amount that the three financiers will provide for the construction of the modern, electric railway in this particular section.
Mr Tito was speaking on the sidelines of a training session for members of the parliamentary Public Investment Committee (PIC).
Commenting on the other sections, Mr Tito stressed that progress was being made. The Makutupora-Tabora section was estimated at 14.53 percent in October, while the Tabora-Isaka lot was at 6.14 percent complete.
Construction of the Isaka-Mwanza section has reached 60.62 percent, while the Tabora-Kigoma section is at 6.68 percent.
Mr Tito also said that discussions are ongoing between the government and companies that have shown interest in investing in the SGR, including the procurement of the locomotives and the construction of the Mtwara-Mbamba Bay line.
PIC chairman Augustine Vuma Holle said that members had noted that $10 billion had been spent on the construction of the railway.
“We are optimistic that once the freight train services commence next February, the revenue collected will increase threefold. We have just seen the TRC report that since SGR started passenger operations, the corporation has collected over Tsh20 billion ($7.5 million),” said Mr Holle, who is also the Kasulu Rural Constituency MP.
“This is a significant amount. We expect to collect even more revenue once freight transportation begins. As you know, our railway is a dual-use railway. Often, revenue generated from passenger train services is typically low at 20 percent, while 80 percent usually comes from freight transportation,” he noted.
Deputy Minister for Transport, David Kihenzile, expressed satisfaction with the positive feedback received from the PIC.
“It is true that the investment for the SGR project is huge and the government will implement this project diligently,” he said.
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