Tanzania secured from the Chinese Export-Import bank, China Exim Bank, a $7.6 billion loan to build a railway which will connect it to neighboring nations, said President John Magufuli in a statement

The announcement comes after talks in Tanzania’s administrative capital, Dodoma, between the Tanzanian leader and Exim Bank’s President Liu Liange.

The railway will enhance export and transport of goods from Tanzania’s landlocked neighbors such as Burundi, DR Congo, Rwanda and Uganda. The infrastructure will become a key commercial artery between the East African nation and its neighbors. “The planned standard gauge railway line will improve regional trade links and help to boost the economies of Tanzania and its landlocked neighbors including Uganda, Rwanda, Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC),” the statement said.

Construction for the railroad will commence this year.

Exim Bank equally injected $1.2 billion in the construction of a 532km-long natural gas pipeline in Tanzania.

Alain Okpeitcha (Intern)