New road infrastructure to boost economy in Tanzania

Date: 20/11/2012

Extra funding has been established for the East African Road Network in Tanzania in a bid to boost the country's economy.

The (AfDB) African Development Bank has pledged an additional 160 billion shillings (£60 million) for the 2012 to 2013 fiscal year.

Tonia Kandiero, AfDB's resident representative in Tanzania, made the announcement at a ceremony to mark the start of building another road.

The foundation stone was being laid for a 223 kilometre road to provide a reliable link between Singida, Babati and Minjingu.

Ms Kandiero told the Tanzania Daily News: "For Tanzania, I am happy to report that the ongoing bank-financed transport infrastructure portfolio currently stands at $550 million (880 billion shillings) and is expected to grow to $650 million (1 trillion shillings) by the end of the 2012-2013 fiscal year."

The road makes up part of the East African Community's project to encourage businesses to trade across borders into neighbouring countries.

It also forms a section of the road infrastructure which runs from Cape Town in South Africa to Cairo in Egypt and is known as the Great North Road.

Ms Kandiero said that AfDB's contribution to roads in Tanzania is just the beginning of funding towards the East African Road Network.

The next project which it intends to help finance will be a tarmac road from Arusha-Holili in Tanzania to the Taveta-Voi corridor in Kenya.

AfDB aims to improve road infrastructure in the region in order to reduce the cost of doing business, attract more investment from the private sector, improve sustainability and boost the quality of life of those in East Africa.

Ms Kandiero said: "We at the African Development Bank are very proud of the partnership with the government in co-financing the construction of this very important road."

Trade will be greatly improved between Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo with the new roads in place.

A senior economist with the Tanzania Electricity Supply Company Limited said: "Tanzanians and East Africans at large should be prepared to use this important infrastructure.

"The journey, which took more than a day from Babati to Voi in Kenya, will now take less than eight hours. Indeed this is a great opportunity that we should seize with both hands."

The spokesman went on to suggest that a similar level of investment should be put into Tanzania's railways as a way to transport goods in bulk.

Posted by Nick Anderson

International Transport News and Sustainable Transport News