On January 29, the Tanzania Railways Corporation (TRC) signed a US$2.2 billion contract for the construction of sections 7 and 8 of the Standard Gauge Electric Railway (SGR), which will run 282km from Ubinza across the border to Musongati in Burundi.
A team from China Railway Engineering Group (CREGC) and China Railway Engineering Design Consulting Group (CREDC) will construct a railway section as part of the 693km second phase of the SGR project in Tanzania.
The scheme is expected to run for 72 months, including a 12-month waiting period.
The new line will branch from Tanzania SGR’s Tabora-Kigoma section (Lot 6) at Ubinza and run for 180km to the Malagarasi River on the Burundi border. The line stretches for 102km from Malagarasi to Musongati.
The works include the construction of a 1km-long bridge connecting Tanzania and Burundi, designed to carry rail and road traffic, as well as the construction of an estimated seven stations and one freight terminal in the Msongati region.
A new railway section is planned to facilitate the export of nickel from Msongati via Ubinza to Tanzania’s gateway port of Dar es Salaam.
Source: Project RAP, June 2023
Tanzania and Burundi signed a cooperation agreement on railway construction in January 2022, with TRC tasked with procuring contractors and overseeing the construction of the project on behalf of both countries.
The 411km Tabora-Kigoma section is being built by a team from China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) and China Railway Construction Corporation (CRCC), which signed a US$2.2 billion design and construction contract in December 2022. As of late January this year, construction was 7.12% complete and is expected to be completed by December 2026.
In December 2023, the African Development Bank (AfDB) approved a US$696.4 million loan to Burundi and Tanzania to advance the second phase of the SGR project.
The SGR is planned to be the backbone of Tanzania’s central trade corridor linking the port of Dar es Salaam with Burundi, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Rwanda, Uganda and Zambia. The railway is aimed at easing road congestion, with each freight train expected to carry up to 10,000 tonnes of cargo, the equivalent of taking 500 trucks off the road.
A feasibility study is currently underway for the extension of the SGR line from Msongati to Kindu in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. In March 2023, a feasibility study and preliminary engineering design contract for the project was signed with South Africa’s Zutari.
Meanwhile, the TRC is also considering building a 371km section from Ithaca in northwestern Tanzania on the border with Rwanda to Rusumo, which would be part of the Ithaca-Kigali SGR railway linking Rwanda’s capital.
According to the TRC, the completion of the SGR network will connect the Southern Mtwara-Mbamba Bay Railway, which connects the Indian Ocean to Lake Nyasa and passes through areas rich in iron ore, coal and graphite. It also services the Muchuchuma and Liganga coal and iron mines.
Top photo: Tanzania SGR (Source: TRC)
