Africa-Press – Tanzania. DAR ES SALAAM: TANZANIA and Egypt have agreed to cooperate in rehabilitating a section of the Cairo-Cape Town Highway crossing Tanzania, aiming to unlock the continent’s potential.
Tanzania’s Works Minister, Mr Innocent Bashungwa, revealed this in Dar es Salaam on Tuesday after meeting with Egypt’s Minister of Transport, Lt General Kamel Al Wazir.
During their discussions, Minister Bashungwa proposed fast-tracking the project. The route connects Northern to Southern Africa through East Africa and spans a distance of 10,228km, of which 1,600km, according to the Tanzania National Roads Agency (TANROADS), is in Tanzania.
The Tanzanian regions connected by Africa’s longest route include Songwe, Mbeya, Iringa, Dodoma, Manyara, and Arusha.
“Development of any country depends largely on the infrastructure sector as it provides a link to local and international trade. Following that, Tanzania acts as an international gateway for several of its neighbouring landlocked countries like Burundi, Rwanda, Uganda, DR Congo, Zambia, and Malawi, where through our extensive road network they gain access to the global market,” noted Mr Bashungwa at the meeting attended by Egyptian delegates.
The accomplishment of the section to the required international standards, he added, will spur the country’s economic growth as per President Samia Suluhu Hassan’s ambition and the ruling party’s election manifesto.
He said under President Samia’s guidance, Tanzania has undertaken ambitious projects aimed at modernising the country’s road networks to enhance connectivity and improve accessibility.
“Through joint initiatives, knowledge exchange and technical cooperation, we will be able to address key infrastructure challenges and unlock new opportunities for economic advancement,” said the Works Minister.
Mr Bashungwa expressed his optimism that the partnership between Tanzania and the Arab Republic of Egypt in infrastructure development will be characterised by a shared commitment to excellence, innovation and sustainable development.
For his part, Egypt’s Minister of Transport said he and his delegation came to Tanzania to learn and explore areas of cooperation, including but not limited to economic and education opportunities.
According to Wazir, Egypt feels a brotherhood relationship with Tanzania which has seen the two sides cooperating in various sectors including transport and investment.
He said through the existing bilateral relation between the two countries, Tanzania will benefit from Egypt, which is well advanced in the transport sector and technology.
Presenting at the meeting, TANROADS’ Chief Executive Engineer, Mohamed Besta, said Tanzania’s classified roads network has a total of 181,655.49 km of public roads, whereas a total of 37,225.72 km are trunk and regional roads, administered by the Ministry of Works’ agency.
Egypt’s companies have been involved in projects in Tanzania, including the Julius Nyerere Hydro Power Project (Design and Construction, Arab Contractors and Elsewedy Electric Company).
Arab Consulting Engineers (ACE), another Egyptian company, is currently conducting feasibility studies and detailed designs for eight critical road intersections in Dar es Salaam City.
Apart from TANROADS, other institutions under the Ministry of Works, which made presentations of their respective core businesses, were the Tanzania Building Agency (TBA) and the Tanzania Electrical, Mechanical and Electronics Services Agency (TEMESA).
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