Tanzania and Burundi have signed a $2.15 billion agreement with two Chinese firms to construct a 282-kilometer standard-gauge railway (SGR) connecting the two countries, officials said.
China Railway Engineering Group and China Railway Engineering Design and Consulting will build the new line, which will run from Uvinza, Tanzania, near the Burundi border, to Musongati in central Burundi. The region is home to one of the world’s largest nickel deposits, along with reserves of gold, platinum, palladium, copper, and iron.
The construction contract covers two of three sections of the planned 651-kilometer railway from Tabora, Tanzania, to Musongati. It includes the 156-kilometer Uvinza-Malagarasi section in Tanzania and the 84-kilometer Malagarasi-Musongati section in Burundi.
The African Development Bank is financing the project through a combination of grants and loans. Once completed, the railway is expected to transport up to 3 million tonnes of minerals annually.
The new railway will branch off from a 411-kilometer line currently under construction from Tabora to Kigoma, near the Rwandan border. Tanzania Railway Corporation signed a contract with China Civil Engineering Construction (CCECC) to build that segment in December 2022.