Round-Table on Tanzania-Rwanda-Burundi Railway Project Continues

18 March 2009
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African Development Bank (Abidjan)
press release

A round-table on the Tanzania-Rwanda-Burundi Railway project that started on Monday, March 16, 2009, continued on Tuesday in Tunis with deliberations split in three sessions.

The first session was devoted to communication and the exchange of views. Discussions during the session focused on the presentation of financial reports, financing options and achievements. The second session was marked by a question-and-answer session, a round-table and statements by financial and technical partners. The third session was marked by a presentation of results of the round-table in a plenary session which ended with a report. The resolution indicates "the project's financial viability and feasibility, given its impact on the people and the region."

The resolution also indicates that "detailed studies will be conducted soon for the project to be carried out." Speaking on behalf of Bank Group President, Donald Kaberuka, Vice President, Zeinab El-Bakri, commended the ownership of the project by stakeholders and the three governments, highlighting the role of Bank Group support in its implementation."

Organized by the governments of the three countries involved with support from the Bank Group, the event brought together some 65 participants, especially economy and finance ministers, as well as transportation and infrastructure ministers from the three countries, development partners, private sector representatives, in particular, mining and armoring companies, operators and investors in free trade zones. The round-table aimed at "supporting the three countries in their efforts to develop concrete and proper responses to processes that can help open up the Isaka-Kigali/Keza-Musogati regions through low-cost access to the Dar-es-Salaam port in Tanzania." The cost of realizing the railway project estimated at US$ 3.5 billion. Undertaken with AfDB support, the feasibility study underscores the project's technical, economic and environmental viability. Given the project's complexity and huge financing requirements, the study recommended an implementation model along the lines of a public-private partnership (PPP).

Ahouassou Aristide Agoungnon, Email: a.ahouassou@afdb.org, Tel: +216 71 10 34 14

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