The African Development Bank Group has approved the reallocation of $98 million in savings from the completed Transport Sector Support Program to finance the Bulamata–Uvinza Road Upgrading Project in western Tanzania. The project, with a total cost of $129 million, includes upgrading the Bulamata–Msombwe road to bitumen standard, constructing a 250-metre bridge over the Malagarasi River, a rail overpass, and connecting roads, along with community infrastructure such as markets, solar lighting, boreholes, and parking areas.
The upgraded road will link to the 342.9-kilometre Tabora–Koga–Mpanda Road, creating a corridor from Mpanda District to the Central Corridor railway and the Port of Dar es Salaam. This corridor is expected to enhance western Tanzania’s access to national markets and expand cross-border trade with Uganda, Kenya, and South Sudan. The project aims to reduce travel time by more than half, providing safer and more reliable transport while improving access to schools, health services, and administrative centres, particularly during the rainy season.
Improved connectivity will support local economies by facilitating access to markets for crops like coffee, bananas, maize, and groundnuts, boosting farmer incomes, and stimulating tourism, mining, fisheries, and agro-processing sectors in the Kigoma and Katavi regions. The project also offers opportunities to advance women’s economic empowerment through better access to employment and markets.
