AfDB Approves Funding for Railway Project Study

African Development Bank
(Tunis)

AfDB Approves Funding for

Burundi-Rwanda-Tanzania

Railway Project Study

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Tunis — The second phase of

the Dar es Salaam-Isaka-Kigali/Keza-

Musongati Railway project study will

cover the existing 970-km

Dar es Salaam-Isaka railway

link and its extensions.

The project is part of the East African

Community (EAC) priority investment

programme which attaches

great importance to multinational

poverty reduction projects,

through regional infrastructure

development and cooperation

among member countries.

The study will benefit from lessons

drawn from Phase I of the project

co-financed by the AfDB which

analyzed various rail alignments

with associated physical and

technical constraints, project

environmental and social impact,

economic and financial feasibility

and existing institutional framework.

The results were presented to

a development partners' and

private sector round table held

in Tunis in March 2009.

Phase II will focus more on deepening

the institutional framework and

structuring the project in the form

of a Public Private Partnership (PPP).

It will involve Analysis of the

project's socioeconomic benefits,

notably for the most vulnerable

people (women, children,

rural dwellers, etc.), in terms of

business development and

enhancement of economic

potential (particularly in mining,

industry and agriculture) as well

as facilitating the low-cost marketing

of goods and movement of people.

There will be a comparative analysis

of modes of transport (road, rail and

rail-road and lake-rail combination)

on the corridors to Rwanda and Burundi;

The third component comprises

environmental and social impact of

the future railway project (impact

of climate change on the project,

spread of sexually-transmitted infections,

including HIV/AIDS and the impact

of rail transport on public security)

as well as appropriate measures for

mitigating the negative impacts

during and after project implementation;

and finally, private sector participation

in financing the project and

managing railway infrastructure.

The project will provide the governments

of Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi

with data and decision-making tools

to facilitate mobilization of financing,

project implementation and

railway infrastructure management.

Four mining sites will be connected to

the Keza- Musongati Section by

50 km-branch lines.

The Project Impact Area (PIA) covers

Rwanda, Burundi and North-West

Tanzania (Shinyanga and Kagera regions),

with a population of 22.7 million,

53% of whom live below

the poverty line.

* 1 UA (Units of

Account) = USD 1.59 as

at 17/11/2009

Contacts

Lotfi Madani

Link here

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J-L K
Sent from Kigali, Rwanda