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Press Release

800 Million Tsh/- Grant from U.S. Supports Rail Upgrade in Tanzania

December 5, 2008

Developing the necessary rail infrastructure in Tanzania to support economic growth and to facilitate the establishment of an important regional transportation corridor is the goal of a U.S. Trade Development Agency grant awarded recently to Tanzania’s Ministry of Infrastructure Development. The grant, which was awarded under U.S.'s African Trade Lanes Partnership, will fund early investment analysis on a proposed upgrade to the Dar es Salaam to Isaka Railway.

The $653,600 grant (approximately 817 million Tsh/-) was conferred at a signing ceremony held at the Mayflower Hotel in Washington, D.C. Larry W. Walther, Director of the U.S. Trade and Development Agency and the Honorable Shukuru Jumanne Kawambwa, Minister of Infrastructure Development, signed the grant agreement on behalf of the U.S. and Tanzanian governments, respectively.

The current railway from Dar es Salaam to Isaka dates from the early 1900s and is narrow gauge. This grant from the American people will be used to evaluate the economic and technical feasibility of upgrading the railway to standard gauge, which would allow trains to carry more weight per car, more cars per train, and move trains up to three times faster than the current railway.

The proposed railway upgrade is part of the Central Development Corridor (CDC) plan for Tanzania, Rwanda, and Burundi. In combination with improvements at the Port of Dar es Salaam and construction of a new Isaka to Kigali, Rwanda rail link, the CDC would convey freight from the Port of Dar es Salaam to a “dry port” at Isaka and onward to land-locked Rwanda.

The African Trade Lanes Partnership was launch in April 2008 to advance the development of sub-Saharan Africa’s most vital trade lanes and transportation networks to facilitate local, regional and global trade. The two-year, $4 million initiative is designed to promote regional cooperation and connectivity in all modes of transportation, including aviation, maritime, land, and rail.