East African Business Week (Kampala)
Walter Isenged
3 December 2007
Bujumbura — The 'Central Corridor', the road network linking Tanzania to Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, Tanzania and the DRC will be upgraded and completed by 2010, regional officials meeting in Bujumbura have said.
The Central Corridor is an initiative of the Tanzania government to facilitate transport from Dar-es-salaam to its northern and western neighbors including Uganda.
Officials from Tanzania attending the forum for customers of the Corridor in Bujumbura that run from November 19 to 24 revealed the timeframe for the completion of the project.
Mr. Dieter Schelling, the World Bank's task team leader said, "The Central Transport Corridor is critical in promoting regional integration, trade and investment because it opens up areas of main economic activities, such as mining, tourism, agriculture and manufacturing, in addition to serving four landlocked neighbouring countries."
Schelling is responsible for the roads project under the World Bank.
In 2001, Tanzania approached the EU with a proposal that yielded a grant of Euros 132 million (Tshs 92 billion) for infrastructure. This included rehabilitation and upgrading approximately 169 km of road.
This road runs from the Mwanza/Shinyanga border to Tinde, and the road from Nzega to Isaka and on to the borders of Rwanda and Burundi. During the last fifteen years, the EU has financed a Tanzania road project to the tune of Tsh 380 billion.
On May 7, 2004, the World Bank also approved an International Development Association (IDA) credit of $122 million to support the upgrading of strategic roads in mainland Tanzania and Zanzibar.
Among the roads that were meant to be upgraded under the project are the 110km Singida-Shelui section of the Central Transport Corridor.
These roads were to facilitate movement between the industrial and port capital of Dar es Salaam and Tanzania's interior and also provide the missing link to important commercial towns such as Singida, Nzega, Shinyanga and Mwanza.
Significantly, it would also serve the landlocked countries of Burundi, Rwanda, DRC and Uganda thus opening new avenues for trade with neighbouring countries.
"I reaffirm the commitment of our country to fulfil its international obligation as emphasised by various UN resolutions, particularly the Almaty Programme of Action," said Tanzania deputy minister for infrastructure development, Dr. Milton Makongoro Mahanga.
During an official visit to Burundi in June 2007, the president of Tanzania had assured Burundi of Tanzania's commitment to facilitate transit traffic to Burundi.
On September 2, 2006, five ministers responsible for transport matters in respective member states of the Central corridor signed an agreement to establish the Central Corridor Transit Transport Facilitation Agency (TTFA) in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.
The main objective of the agency is to monitor and facilitate movement of transit traffic along the Central Corridor.
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