AfDB Approves Funding for Burundi-Rwanda-Tanzania Railway Project Study

19 November 2009
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African Development Bank (Abidjan)
press release

Tunis — The second phase of the Dar es Salaam-Isaka-Kigali/Keza-Musongati Railway project study will cover the existing 970-km Dar es Salaam-Isaka railway link and its extensions.

The project is part of the East African Community (EAC) priority investment programme which attaches great importance to multinational poverty reduction projects, through regional infrastructure development and cooperation among member countries.

The study will benefit from lessons drawn from Phase I of the project co-financed by the AfDB which analyzed various rail alignments with associated physical and technical constraints, project environmental and social impact, economic and financial feasibility and existing institutional framework. The results were presented to a development partners' and private sector round table held in Tunis in March 2009.

Phase II will focus more on deepening the institutional framework and structuring the project in the form of a Public Private Partnership (PPP).

It will involve Analysis of the project's socioeconomic benefits, notably for the most vulnerable people (women, children, rural dwellers, etc.), in terms of business development and enhancement of economic potential (particularly in mining, industry and agriculture) as well as facilitating the low-cost marketing of goods and movement of people. There will be a comparative analysis of modes of transport (road, rail and rail-road and lake-rail combination) on the corridors to Rwanda and Burundi; The third component comprises environmental and social impact of the future railway project (impact of climate change on the project, spread of sexually-transmitted infections, including HIV/AIDS and the impact of rail transport on public security) as well as appropriate measures for mitigating the negative impacts during and after project implementation; and finally, private sector participation in financing the project and managing railway infrastructure.

The project will provide the governments of Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi with data and decision-making tools to facilitate mobilization of financing, project implementation and railway infrastructure management.

Four mining sites will be connected to the Keza- Musongati Section by 50 km-branch lines. The Project Impact Area (PIA) covers Rwanda, Burundi and North-West Tanzania (Shinyanga and Kagera regions), with a population of 22.7 million, 53% of whom live below the poverty line.

* 1 UA (Units of Account) = USD 1.59 as at 17/11/2009

Contacts

Lotfi Madani

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