President John Magufuli and his Rwandan counterpart, Paul Kagame, have agreed to start the construction of the standard gauge railways (SGR) from Isaka to Kigali this year as part of efforts to connect Rwanda to the Dar es Salaam port.
The 400 kilometre long railways will be jointly financed by the two countries, President Magufuli has told reporters, today, January 14, at the State House after a tête-à-tête meeting between the two leaders.
“We want Foreign Ministers from the two countries to meet next week to start charting out the financing model. We the construction to start immediately because the feasibility studies and all other preparations are complete,” President Magufuli noted. “President Kagame and I want to unveil the foundation stone to usher the construction this year,” President Magufuli added.
Tanzania has already started construction of the SGR in two phases, from Dar es Salaam to Morogoro (330km) and from Morogoro to Makutupora in Dodoma (426km) using locally sourced funds to the tune of Sh7 trillion, according to President Magufuli.
“Both President Magufuli and I, have said we are even ready to look for loans to speed up the construction,” President Magufuli noted.
President Magufuli also said Tanzania fully supports President Kagame’s candidacy for the AU chairmanship. On his part President Kagame thanked his host for supporting his AU chairmanship.
“I am happy to work with President Magufuli and other African presidents. They have given me these responsibilities because they are ready to give me support to enable me accomplish my tasks,” President Kagame noted. The Citizen
