TZ@60: What it will take to benefit from SGR

Media/news company

Mwananchi Communications Limited

What you need to know:

The SGR construction will run the entire length of the central line system and beyond

After 60 years of using the Metre Gauge Railways (MGR) Tanzania decided that it would start the new journey into the next six decades with the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR). The SGR construction will run the entire length of the central line system and beyond. The first phase of the SGR construction (Dar es Salaam to Mwanza) will cover a distance of about 1,219km. The other phases that include Tabora-Kigoma; Uvinza-Burundi border; Kaliua-Mpanda-Karema; and Isaka-Rusumo are expected to cover the distance of 1,342km. Other phases will include Tanga-Musoma (1,108km) and Mtwara-Mbamba Bay (1,000km). In total the SGR network is expected to cover a distance of 4,669km, according to officials from the ministry of Transport and Infrastructure. The construction of the first phase from Dar es Salaam to Mwanza and from Isaka to Rusumo is expected to cost a maximum of $6 billion according to earlier estimates fronted by government officials. It is clear, therefore, that the construction of the whole 4669km network will cost much more.

Despite the efficiency, the cost of building SGR is too much that it risks bursting Tanzania’s debt to unprecedented levels. Most of the project will be undertaken through loans but the capacity for the government public debt is limited. For the SGR to make sense and ensure quicker return to investment the construction of all these should go concurrently, experts say. Going phase after phase means that the construction of the SGR will take decades. But also to get more benefit to the economy the SGR network should be connected to all neighbouring countries to enable Tanzania to play its useful geographical role as the link between eastern Africa and southern and central Africa. “It is important that Dar es Salaam is linked to Mtwara and Mozambican border by SGR; that SGR should reach Mbeya and, eventually to the Malawian and Zambian borders; Dar es Salaam should be linked to Tanga and the Kenyan border; the SGR should be extended to Musoma and Kenyan border; it is also important that the Isaka-Rusumo section also junctures to Bukoba and Ugandan border,” a railways expert, who asked for anonymity, says. All these connections will enable the exchange of goods from farms, mines, industries and forests both within the region and to the outside world, he added. Burundians, Rwandans, Congolese, Ugandans and Kenyans should be able to access Mozambique, Malawi, Zambia and beyond, and vice versa, using the SGR.