Dar es Salaam, Tanzania — Tanzania and Burundi have issued a tender to design and construct an electrified railway that will initially link the two countries and pass through the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The project aims to tap the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), the world’s largest single market, and create Africa’s second multinational electrified railway. AfCFTA seeks to combine Africa’s nearly 1.4 billion people and markets, which currently have a combined GDP of over US$3 trillion, into a single market.
The plan calls for about 282 kilometres of electrified Standard Gauge Railway (SGR) to be built from Uvinza in Tanzania (off the Tabora‑Kigoma SGR line), across the international border along the Malagarasi River to Musongati and onward to Gitega in Burundi. According to the tender document, “the two governments of Tanzania and Burundi have entered into a bilateral agreement to implement this multinational project as a single project within Tanzania and Burundi territories.” The project is slated for a five‑year implementation period. Upon completion, it will become Africa’s second cross‑border electrified rail line, following the Ethiopia‑Djibouti railway launched in 2016. That 750‑kilometre line, funded 70 percent by China’s Exim Bank, remains the longest fully electric multinational railway on the continent.
The Tanzania‑Burundi tender indicates that both governments have applied for construction funding from the African Development Bank. Tanzania has recently embarked on an aggressive push to modernise its railway infrastructure, upgrading ageing regional networks to facilitate cross‑border trade. In December 2022, the country finalised a US$2.2 billion deal with China to expand its SGR network to 2,561 kilometres, linking the port city of Dar es Salaam to landlocked neighbours such as the DRC, Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda. The total cost is now US$10.04 billion, and the line is expected to create the longest modern rail network in Africa when completed in 2026. With this investment, Tanzania aims to outpace regional peers, including Kenya, by offering the most efficient trade routes in East Africa. “Upon completion of the SGR, Tanzania will be in a better position to utilise its strategic geographical positioning to facilitate cross‑border trade,” President Samia Suluhu Hassan was quoted as saying by France News Agency (AFP).
Kenya entered a tripartite agreement in 2014 with Rwanda and Uganda to build a standard gauge railway, but the network has yet to cross international borders and has faced criticism for lacking value for money. In November 2022, Uganda withdrew from the deal after terminating its eight‑year contract with China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC) for a 273‑kilometre SGR line from Malaba (on the Kenya border) to Kampala. Uganda then began talks with Turkish firm Yapi Markezi to raise funds for the line, which would give Uganda a direct link to Kenya’s main harbour in Mombasa. Yapi Markezi already has ongoing rail projects in Uganda and is also involved in part of Tanzania’s SGR project.
In August 2022, the Tanzanian and Zambian governments agreed to upgrade their 1,160‑kilometre cross‑border railway, Tazara (also known as the Uhuru or Tanzam Railway), to strengthen bilateral ties. A World Economic Forum Insight report (2023), “AfCFTA: A New Era for Global Business and Investment in Africa,” projects that the world’s largest single market will boost intra‑African freight demand by 28 percent, creating demand for almost 2 million trucks, 100 000 rail wagons, 250 aircraft and more than 100 vessels by 2030. “Unlocking intra‑regional trade will skyrocket the demand for logistics, with more small and medium‑sized enterprises needing logistics providers to connect to bigger markets,” the report states.
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