Tanzania inked a contract with Turkish firm Yapi Merkezi on Tuesday to build a 368-kilometer section of standard gauge railway that will cost $1.9 billion and be financed through loans.
It’s part of a 1,219-kilometer route being built by Tanzania to assist promote trade with neighboring countries, and Yapi Merkezi has already completed two other sections.
Masanja Kadogosa, director-general of Tanzania Railway Corporation (TRC), said in a televised ceremony that the section unveiled on Tuesday will connect Makutopora and Tabora, two towns in the country’s central region.
The entire route will connect Dar es Salaam, Tanzania’s Indian Ocean port and commercial hub, with Mwanza, a port city on the beaches of Lake Victoria that straddles Tanzania’s, Uganda’s, and Kenya’s borders.
Tanzania would borrow to fund the project, according to President Samia Suluhu Hassan, who spoke during the occasion.
“We’ll discover the most user-friendly loan facilities and the most efficient loan applications. We won’t be able to get this money through levies or domestic taxes “She went on to say that the project was given top priority because it connects Tanzania to its regional neighbors.
The East African country is presently constructing massive infrastructure projects to assist its industrialization goals, including a contentious 2,115-megawatt hydropower dam in a UNESCO world heritage site.
