Dar es Salaam, 14 January 2018: Tanzania and Rwanda have agreed on the construction of a 400-kilometer standard gauge railway (SGR) line from Isaka to Kigali; a move which will facilitate movement of goods between the two countries.

The agreement was reached following a meeting between His Excellency President Paul Kagame and his Tanzanian Counterpart His Excellency John Pombe Magufuli, during the former’s one-day working visit to Dar-es-Salaam, on Sunday 14 January, 2018.

President Magufuli said that they have directed the Infrastructure ministers of the two countries to meet in the coming weeks to deliberate on an agreeable financing model.

“We have agreed to start the construction of the Standard Gauge Railway line from Isaka to Kigali. We have instructed the Infrastructure ministers from the two countries to meet within the next two weeks to start planning the implementation of the project. We want the construction to start immediately because the feasibility studies and other preparations are complete,” Magufuli said.

The meeting between the ministers will, among other aspects, consider the financing models of the project before a tender announcement for the project is issued. Magufuli said that they expected to break ground for the project within this year.

The railway line is expected to link Dar-es-Salaam and Kigali via Isaka, and expected to improve movement of goods into and out of the country considering that over 60 per cent of Rwanda’s imports and exports go through Tanzania.

Studies conducted by the East African Community (EAC) indicate that the Tanzanian railway route would cost Rwanda about US$800 to $900 million.

The Standard Gauge Railway from the port of Mombasa via Uganda is expected to cost Rwanda close to US$1 billion, initial studies had shown.

Tanzania has already started construction of the standard gauge railway in two phases from Dar es Salaam to Morogoro covering 330km, and from Morogoro to Makutupora in Dodoma covering 426km, using locally sourced funds to the tune of about 3 billion U.S. dollars, according to President Magufuli.

Both Presidents Kagame and Magufuli were committed to look for loans to speed up the construction of the railway line.