Tanzania secures US$245m loan from World Bank for phase 3 of Dar Bus Rapid Transit

TANZANIA – The government of Tanzania has secured a total of US$245 million in loans from the World Bank for the construction of phases 3 and 4 of the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), a senior official has revealed to The Citizen newspaper

Phase Three of the BRT project involves the construction of infrastructure projects across the 23.6-kilometre stretch of Nyerere Road from Gongo la Mboto to City Centre and parts of Uhuru Road from Tazara to Kariakoo Gerezani while phase 4 involves the construction of a 16.1-kilometre stretch along Bagamoyo and Sam Nujoma roads.

Dar es Salaam Rapid Transit Agency (Dart) chief executive officer Ronald Lwakatare told The Citizen newspaper that they have received US$148.1 million for phase 3 and US$99.9 million for phase 4.

“The funds secured would facilitate the actual construction of BRT infrastructure while the government will be responsible for compensating the people who will be affected by the project,” he said. 

He added that after the compensations, the government would then announce tenders for the actual construction process to start.

The CEO clarified that though the actual cost of construction is determined depending on the received bids, the amount to be spent on the project would remain within the same range because the funds were in foreign currency.

In early 2020, the agency said it had disbursed US$2.45 million to 77 Dar es Salaam residents to pave the way for the construction of the 23.6 kilometre stretch of the BRT phase 3 project and only

Dart said the government had completed the compensation proc- ess but that only US$54,000 had not yet been paid to those who would be affected.

Dart is a bus-based mass transit system connecting the suburbs of Dar es Salaam to the Central Business District which began operations in May 2016.

Construction of the first phase was completed in December 2015 at a total cost of euros US$159.6 million, funded by the African Development Bank (AfDB), the World Bank and Tanzanian government.

Phase I of the BRT system has a total length of 21 kilometres and runs from Kimara via Ubungo ending at Kivukoni, Morocco and Gerezani.

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