Burundi has broken ground on its first-ever railway, a project set to link the nation to Tanzania and reshape its economic horizon.
President Evariste Ndayishimiye and Tanzanian Prime Minister Kassim Majaliwa laid the foundation stone in Musongati, 160 kilometres southeast of Bujumbura. The 282-kilometre standard gauge railway will integrate into the Central Corridor, a strategic artery funnelling inland trade to Tanzania’s Port of Dar es Salaam.
“This railway will profoundly transform regional transport, reduce delays and transport costs,” said Flory Okendju, executive secretary of the Central Corridor, who oversees the project. Construction is expected to take six years, with future extensions planned into eastern DR Congo after feasibility studies conclude in 2026.
Ndayishimiye said the railway will unlock vast mineral wealth, including nickel, iron and platinum, previously hindered by a lack of viable transport. “When mining companies asked how we would evacuate all this ore, I had no answer. Now, I do,” he told the crowd.
Prime Minister Nestor Ntahontuye noted the project will save the cash-strapped country an estimated \$36 million monthly in import and export transport costs. For decades, goods have travelled overland by truck, clogging roads and slowing trade.
The \$2.1 billion project is financed by the African Development Bank and Tanzania’s CRDB Bank, with construction led by two Chinese firms. Beyond steel and sleepers, it represents a steel thread weaving Burundi into the broader fabric of East African commerce.
In one of Africa’s poorest nations, where most citizens live below the poverty line, the railway promises more than movement. It is a rare spark of ambition, promising to carry a country’s hopes alongside its cargo.
