Standard Chartered Bank announced a new $2.33 billion financing facility for the construction of Tanzania’s standard gauge railway project.
The 1,200-kilometer (745-mile) line will be jointly built by China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation and Turkish firm Yapi Merkezi to connect the main port in the city of Dar es Salaam to cargo transportation routes in neighboring East African countries.
Tanzania plans to build about 2,500 km of rail lines in total as part of the standard gauge project. It agreed to a $1.2 billion syndicated facility two years ago, arranged by the African Development Bank, with the participation of Deutsche Bank and Société Générale bank. Neighboring Kenya has struggled to complete its own Chinese-built grand railway project due to the absence of funds after a first phase was completed in 2017.