In December, Tanzania announced it would be partnering with China to build the final section of the 2,102 km SGR railway extending to the Democratic Republic of Congo. “The main objective was to link Tanzania to Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo,” said Samia Suluhu Hassan, the president of Tanzania. This railway deal is currently set at $2.2 billion and is slated to be completed in 2026. If completed, the SGR railway would be the most ambitious in Africa, standing as the longest stretch of the modern railway line on the continent. In 2014, Kenya signed a tripartite agreement with the governments of its East African neighbors, Rwanda and Uganda to build a standard gauge railway from Mombasa through Kampala Uganda to Kigali Rwanda. However, this project was cut short, due to a last-minute fallout with its Chinese construction partners in China. Experts have noted that for Kenya to maintain its trade prominence on the East African Bloc, it must move to complete the last phase of this railway. “Whoever completes the railway fast—Tanzania or Kenya—will dominate the trade in the region,” said Mr. Ikiara, an economist and former transport permanent secretary in President Mwai Kibaki’s government.
SOURCE: BUSINESS INSIDER