BURUNDI and Tanzania revealed a plan to raise $1.9bn for constructing a railway line linking the two countries.
Central Corridor Transit Transport Facilitation Agency (CCTTFA) Executive Secretary Dieudonné Dukundane said the project involved a 190km rail line that would link the Burundian city of Musongati to Isaka in Tanzania.
According to the official, the objective is to facilitate the opening up of the country, while boosting mining exports via Tanzania, which has several ports, especially in Isaka.
Banking on nickel, one of its main mining products, Burundi wants to improve mining exports by 47 per cent by 2027.
“Now is the time to start fund-raising,” Dieudonné Dukundane said, according to comment relayed by Bloomberg. The railroad is part of a railway network that will enhance trade between Tanzania and its neighbours, particularly Rwanda and the DRC.
The CCTTFA executive secretary says other member countries of the Central Corridor should prepare to begin without delay the construction of railway lines that will connect them to Tanzania. He believes it is an opportunity to boost the region’s competitiveness.
As a reminder, the agency was created on September 2, 2006 and includes Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda and the DRC.
Its mission is to ensure the implementation of the provisions of the Central Corridor Treaty aim at facilitating traffic transiting through Dar es Salaam Port to the landlocked countries of East Africa. – Ecofin Agency