Tanzania will continue to borrow responsibly: Samia

Dar es Salaam. President Samia Suluhu Hassan yesterday said her government would not be discouraged from borrowing, and would seek more concessional loans to fund strategic projects, including construction of the standard gauge railway (SGR).

President Hassan made the remarks at State House, Dar es Salaam, during the signing of the contract for the construction of the 368-kilometre SGR section between Makutupora and Tabora.

“We will continue to implement projects despite efforts to discourage us from borrowing. Even developed countries have debts…we will borrow to complete the development projects we have initiated.

“I promised to continue on the positive path taken by previous governments, and oversee implementation of all ongoing projects, as well as start new ones. We will continue to monitor and ensure that they are completed,” she reiterated.

The contract was signed by Tanzania Railways Corporation (TRC) and Yapi Merkezi Construction Company of Turkey, and the lot will cost $1.9 billion (Sh4.41 trillion).

President Hassan said the five-phase SGR project started to be implemented in accordance with the manifesto of the ruling CCM, whereby construction work began in 2017, and the railway is expected to pass through nine regions.

She said construction is currently underway in three sections of Dar es Salaam to Morogoro (95 percent), Morogoro to Makutupora (77 percent) and Mwanza to Isaka (4 percent) totalling 1,063 kilometres of main railway as well as intersections.

“This is a huge project that requires a lot of determination from the government and the people alike. This makes investment in the construction of four out of five lots worth up to Sh14.7 trillion plus taxes,” she said.

She added that she had already directed the Ministry of Works and Transport, through TRC, to complete the procurement process to find a contractor for the construction of the remaining part of Tabora to Isaka and Tabora to Kigoma.

“Later we will go from Kaliua to Mpanda then to Kalema. As I said, the investment so far is Sh14.7 trillion, so if we do not continue this construction and complete it, the money we invested will be worthless. So in any case we will borrow… we will look for simple, effective ways to borrow,” she insisted.

The Head of State noted that the funds for strategic projects would not come from levies or taxes collected locally but, “we must borrow in order to complete this project…,” she added emphatically.

She disclosed that her government has also entered into an agreement for the purchase of 89 passenger coaches, 19 electric train heads, 10 modern train sets with 80 coaches, at a cost of more than $381.4 million.

However, she assured that the government continues to complete the purchase of 1, 430 trucks worth $127.2 million.

“I would like to take this opportunity to instruct the ministry and TRC to monitor closely and ensure that the pace of construction coincides with the pace of managing the procurement of such equipment…,” she said.

Meanwhile, in another development the Commander-in-Chief lashed out at those who doubt the development and completion of all government strategic projects

She categorically noted that her government will continue with its strategic projects including completing the construction and promoting trade between Tanzania and neighbouring countries for the betterment of the country’s development vision.

For his part, previously speaking, TRC director general Masanja Kadogosa said the contract signed for the construction is for the first section from Dar es Salaam to Mwanza with a distance of 1,596 kilometres including intersections where the main route is 1,219 kilometres and intersections are 377 kilometres.

“This construction goes hand in hand with the construction of the electricity system because we are partnering with our colleagues in the Tanzania Electricity Corporation (Tanesco),” he said.

In the ongoing construction to date, he said the government has already paid a total of Sh5.34 trillion, payments made up to November 2021 without any claims from the contractor.

“This railway will have a top speed of 160 kilometres per hour like other units for passenger trains and 120 kilometres for freight trains. This unit will have eight passenger terminals,” he said, adding that the construction has created more than 17000 direct jobs and has more than 100,000 indirect employees.