DAR ES SALAAM, Feb. 7 (Xinhua) -- Tanzanian Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa said on Friday that a 300-km standard gauge railway (SGR) from the commercial capital, Dar es Salaam, to Morogoro region is 70 percent complete.
Construction of the SGR uses local financial resources, tapping higher government revenues through such means as tax collection, Majaliwa said.
Adjourning the 18th meeting of the 11th National Assembly in the capital, Dodoma, the premier said construction of the 422-km Morogoro-Makutopora SGR is also in good progress.
In November 2019, Tanzanian President John Magufuli said the governments of Tanzania and Rwanda were in final stages of negotiations to construct an SGR from Isaka dry port in Tanzania to Rwanda.
Magufuli said the SGR will also serve landlocked countries of Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
"In principle Rwandan President Paul Kagame has agreed to jointly implement the project," Magufuli said.
He said feasibility studies for the SGR linking Tanzania and Rwanda have already been undertaken, adding that the two countries are now looking for financiers of the project.
Also in November 2019, the Trade and Development Bank (TDB), a trade and development financial institution in Africa, approved a soft loan of 1 billion U.S. dollars to Tanzania for infrastructure projects.
A statement issued by the Directorate of Presidential Communication at Chamwino State House in Dodoma said the release of the loan was announced by TDB President and Chief Executive Officer Admassu Tadesse during talks with President Magufuli. Enditem
