Implementation Stage for Rwanda Railway

[John Ashworth]

IMPLEMENTATION STAGE FOR RWANDA RAILWAY

Railways Africa On November 1, 2011 In Rwanda

According to Rwanda Focus (published in Kigali) “the proposed new railway to connect Rwanda and Burundi to Tanzania’s port of Dar es Salaam has reached implementation stages. A recent inter-ministerial meeting in Kigali has given the go-ahead for the procurement of a company to carry out a detailed evaluation, to start early in November.

“Director-general of the Rwanda Transport Development Agency (RTDA) Elias Twagira says a deal will soon be reached with Canrail/Gibb, a Canadian company that carried out the feasibility study, to do a comprehensive evaluation of the project.

“The new study will give details about rail alignment, geo-technical investigations and the environmental management plan that will show areas of expropriation and rail construction. The project has an estimated cost of $US5.1 billion. The African Development Bank has already signed a grant and loan agreement with the three East African countries [Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi] to finance the project.

“A feasibility study conducted by DB International from Germany and BNSF from the USA predicts an internal rate of return ranging from 25% to 35%, meaning that the project is economically viable, Twagira said, adding that the mining industry in the region alone would make this railway operation profitable by transporting minerals to Dar. To appreciate the importance of such a big project, he said, one has to look at long-term benefits and not the short-term investment.

“Asked how much each country would contribute to the project, Twagira said this is a joint venture and an investor will have to pay all the needed finances. ‘Whoever comes to invest in this project will pay all the money because this is a joint venture between Tanzania, Rwanda and Burundi; if we fail to get the investor, then each country may have to pay its portion depending on the distance,’ he explains.

“The project entails Tanzania upgrading its 980km line from Dar es Salaam to Isaka and constructing a new 36km extension from Isaka to Rusumo on the border with Rwanda. The latter will have to build a new line of 135km from Rusumo to Kigali, while Burundi will be required to cover 195km from Keza to Musongati.

“Such a big project obviously poses a few challenges. In Rwanda, famous for its thousand hills, the topography complicates the construction of a railroad. Twagira says the alignment plan in the feasibility study shows that the proposed track will mainly follow valleys and low levels of hill slopes, although occasionally more sophisticated construction work will be required to bypass a mountain. That, he noted, also explains the high cost of the project.

“Another challenge is that the project requires highly skilled manpower that is often very expensive. To solve this problem, Rwanda is looking into recruiting a specialist in railway and airport construction.”

“It might be feared that being a multi-national project, its implementation is likely to be slow because partner states have to reach consensus for every decision. It will be a good test for the EAC spirit of brotherhood.”