CHAPTER 3
PAVING THE WAY IN TANZANIA
Tanzania is the international gateway for several of its land- locked neighboring countries, which all depend to a signif- icant extent on Tanzania’s transport network for access to global markets. In addition to its crucial role in providing access to domestic jobs and essential services, the trans-
travel times and cost, while hindering the flow of goods and year-round access to services for local populations.
In 2019, the OPEC Fund approved a US$26 million loan to finance the paving of this road section. This loan forms
port sector in Tanzania has an important role in facilitating international trade and regional economic growth.
part of the OPEC Fund’s comprehensive and long-standing support to Tanzania’s transport sector, with the OPEC Fund having committed 12 operations for a total of US$141 million for 10 road and two air transport projects.
At the time of project preparation in 2018, Tanzania’s road network comprised 87,730 km
of roads, 12,176 km of which were trunk roads (68 percent of which paved), 24,082 km regional roads (15 percent of which paved) and 51,472 km largely unpaved urban, district and feeder roads. Roads remain essential for transport in Tanza- nia, carrying over 80 percent of passengers and 95 percent of freight traffic across the country. However, the national road network was grossly inadequate in light of increasing traffic, with insufficient funds for construction, rehabilitation and routine maintenance. A crucial corridor is the 1,260 km road linking the country’s two major ports of Dar Es Salaam in the east and Kigoma in the west. This is not only a strategic corridor for Tanzania but also an important link to Burundi, Rwanda and the Demo- cratic Republic of the Congo. Various development partners had financed and supported the construction of different sections of this strategic corridor. However, at the time of project preparation in 2019, a 36 km segment between Kazil- ambwa and Chagu remained unpaved, significantly affecting
The project was rolled out in 2020 and the 36 km segment was successfully completed in 2024. In addition to the orig- inal segment, the project scope was later increased by an additional 7.4 km for the Ugansa-Usinge access road, with 53 percent completion reported at the end of July 2024. This paved road acts as an economic boost to the Tabora and Kigoma regions by significantly reducing travel time and vehicle operating cost. The travel time for the whole length of the road ranged from seven to eight hours before the project, whereas the improved road has cut the average trip duration by about half. The road improvements also helped facilitate the movement of people and goods, with average daily traffic (measured on the Kazilambwa-Chagu segment financed by the OPEC Fund) rising significantly from 249 ve- hicles before the project to 1,119 vehicles now. The improved transport conditions and lower costs are considered to have contributed to the economic development and the better connection of products to local and international markets.
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