A Tanzania Railway Limited locomotive pulling six wagons on trial for provision of public transport services. A Chinese civil engineering company has expressed willingness to overhaul the central railway line once the government agrees.
IT may be too early to rejoice but news that a Chinese international construction company is willing to overhaul the central railway line is something you can not help but imagine that finally Tanzania is on the way to fix a major infrastructural impediment that was holding it back for years.
From China where the Prime Minister, Mizengo Pinda is visiting the country, the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC), said it was willing to overhaul the ailing railway line constructed by German colonial government in the early 1900’s.
The Chinese civil engineering company constructed the 1,860km long Tanzania -Zambia railway (TAZARA) from 1970-1976. It has undertaken major international railway modernization projects in Nigeria, Ethiopia and Chad.
The CCECC president, Yuan Li told the Prime Minister that they were ready for the job and were waiting for a green light from the government to undertake what will arguably be the massive infrastructural project to overhaul the line which is the largest technical inheritance of the German colonial age in Tanzania.
He said the representatives of his company were meeting the official of the ministry of Transport over the matter. The overhaul of the central railway line with a total length of 2,600 kilometres, will address weak spots of the economy which has been so vulnerable to shocks by over relying to road transport.
And it will signal that finally one of Africa’s sleeping economic giants is awakening. Tanzania is making regular headlines with robust growing economy, an emerging middle class, an explosion in mobile communications, and huge untapped mineral resources.
The new found wealth in gas in the southern regions of Lindi and Mtwara is billed to propel the country into a middle-class status by 2015 as envisaged in the country’s development roadmap, the Vision 2025. However, the spread of the wealth is seen to be slow and the benefits of the significant growth have yet to bring about significant result in poverty reduction among the majority of Tanzanians.
One of the main problems cited by economists has to do with structural deficiency issues in terms of poor level of infrastructure as road, rail and port networks have not align with the expansion of the economic development.
It is ironic that despite its significant role in transportation, trade facilitation and economic and social development, the railway suffered decades of low investments, poor management and inefficient operations.
With the central railway running well below its capacity, Tanzania was made to rely on roads dominant mode of transport making the economy fragile and susceptible to shocks such as fluctuating fuel prices.
We, somehow appear not to have done enough to save the railway network which is less expensive, more efficient and better than road transport in terms of fuel consumption, spare parts and destruction of the roads.
The ailing Tanzania’s railway network was increasing pressure on the roads and causing high transport costs which push up prices of almost all goods in the market and the burden transferred to the final consumer.
It is against this backdrop that Tanzanians will be looking forward to a revitalized railway network which will help the country regain its status as the hub of regional trade taking advantage of its geographical location and optimizing opportunities of abundant resources it is endowed with.
In his meeting with the CCECC president, the Prime Minister said once the railway is overhauled enormous trade and economic opportunities would be unlocked for the benefit of Tanzanians. Trade with the neghbouring landlocked countries of Burundi, DR Congo, Rwanda and Uganda would be boosted, he said.
It is this hope of having a well functioning railway network, a steady growing economy, a well developed mining industry and a booming gas economy which makes us hope that the sleeping economic giant will finally wake up.
Post a Comment