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The Tanzanian Government is holding talks with China Overseas Engineering Group Co. Ltd. (COVEC) which has expressed interest in investing upwards of USD 1bn in a city traffic decongesting project slated for Dar es Salaam City.
The Tanzanian Government is holding talks with China Overseas Engineering Group Co. Ltd. (COVEC) which has expressed interest in investing upwards of USD 1bn in a city traffic decongesting project slated for Dar es Salaam City. David Kafulila, the Tanzanian Treasury Executive Director for public-private partnership (PPP) stated this at a weekend press conference. COVEC is expected to build outer and inner ring roads in the commercial capital under the PPP mode.
COVEC has already made an informal expression of interest to the Tanzanian government to invest in this infrastructure project, where a pre-feasibility study for the proposed project has already been completed. The investor is requesting a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the government to complete a full feasibility study for the project, with tentative project capital expenditures (CAPEX) cost pegged at about USD 1bn.
A 2020 study by the Confederation of Tanzania Industries (CTI) figured out that traffic congestion in Dar es Salaam eats up to 20 per cent of business profits on average. The government invested in various projects to upgrade the city’s infrastructure and ease traffic congestion, like the construction of flyovers at busy intersections, as well as the current expansion of the Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project financed by the World Bank.
Ring roads will redirect part of incoming and outgoing traffic from the city centre, the director noted, stating that outer roads will help to shift traffic from overloaded routes around the city and reduce travel time. Six inner ring roads and four outer ring roads are expected to be built under this project.
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Since its creation three decades ago, COVEC has undertaken hundreds of large and medium-sized projects in most parts of the world, with a total contract value of USD 12.2bn and a turnover of USD 8.5bn. Projects implemented by the Chinese public entity cover housing construction, roads, bridges, irrigation and water conservancy, and photovoltaic power stations.
