Burundi plans to use the rail to ferry its nickel, cobalt and copper to Dar port.

Tanzania, Burundi in talks about SGR link

By BOB KARASHANI More by this AuthorTanzania and Burundi have begun formal talks on the technical aspects of building a standard railway gauge railway (SGR) link after securing funding from the African Development Bank (AfDB).
According to a Tanzania Railway Corporation public notice issued back in August 2022, the project will be supervised jointly with their Burundi counterparts, ARTF, but all related procurement will be handled by Tanzania.
The initial funds will cover construction of two phases (Lots 6 and 7) totalling 567 kilometres from Tabora to Kigoma in Tanzania (411km) and Uvinza to Malagarasi in Burundi (156km).
Negotiations for additional SGR links from Tanzania to Rwanda and Uganda are still ongoing.
Tanzania’s $7.6 billion SGR project, runs over 1,600 km from Dar to Mwanza on the shores of Lake Victoria and Kigoma along Lake Tanganyika, is being built in five phases by contractors from Turkey and China.