DAR ES SALAAM, Tanzania (Reuters) – Tanzania and Burundi have signed an agreement with two Chinese firms to build a railway between the two African countries for transporting metals, including battery mineral nickel, to the port city of Dar es Salaam.
The $2.15 billion joint venture will be constructed by China Railway Engineering Group Ltd and China Railway Engineering Design and Consulting Group, Tanzania’s transport minister Makame Mbarawa said during the signing ceremony on Wednesday.
It will be financed by the African Development Bank (AfDB), Tanzania’s finance minister Mwigulu Nchemba said.
The two nations expect the 282 kilometre (175 mile) standard gauge line to transport three million metric tons of minerals annually, Tanzania’s finance ministry said last year.
In the last decade China has funded infrastructure projects, such as railways, power plants and ports, and across Africa through its Belt and Road Initiative.
(Reporting by Nuzulack Dausen; Writing by Hereward Holland; editing by Barbara Lewis)
