Chinese companies back on track in Tanzania after winning US$2.2 billion railway contract
- China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation and China Railway Construction Corporation win contract for final section of Standard Gauge Railway
- Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan dismisses criticism the country is taking on too much debt
Chinese companies missed out in the initial phases of the major railroad Tanzania is building to link to countries such as Burundi, which wants access to Tanzanian ports to ship its nickel minerals overseas, and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), a major producer of cobalt and copper. China now ships essential minerals from the DRC through South African ports such as Durban.
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Zambia opens memorial for Chinese railway workers who died building Africa’s Tazara line
Chinese state-owned China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) and its parent firm China Railway Construction Corporation (CRCC) jointly won a US$2.2 billion contract to build the final section of the country’s Standard Gauge Railway (SGR).
The 506km (314-mile) section runs from Tabora in mid-western Tanzania to Kigoma in the western region of the country on the northeastern shores of Lake Tanganyika and close to the border with Burundi and the DRC. The line is part of the 2,561km railway network from the Indian Ocean port of Dar es Salaam to Mwanza on Lake Victoria. Its construction would be completed in 2026.
This is the second contract the two Chinese companies have worked on; they are also building a US$1.3 billion railroad, awarded last year during a visit by Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi.
The firms are building the fifth phase of Tanzania’s SGR linking Mwanza and the southern town of Isaka, 341km away.
