AfDB Leads 1.2-bln-USD Financing Syndication for Tanzania’s SGR Project

DAR ES SALAAM, Xinhua: The African Development Bank (AfDB) said in a statement on Wednesday that it has signed a coordination letter with Deutsche Bank and Societe Generale to establish a syndication strategy to mobilize up to 1.2 billion U.S. dollars for Tanzania’s standard gauge railway (SGR) project.

The statement said the agreement, signed during the 2024 Africa Investment Forum Market Days in Rabat, Morocco, underscores the bank’s role as the initial mandated lead global coordinator in mobilizing financing for the project.

It said Tanzania’s Ministry of Finance is seeking to raise funds from the international debt capital markets to finance the construction of a 411-km SGR line between Tabora and Kigoma.

The 2.3-billion-U.S.-dollar SGR project will connect Tanzania’s port of Dar es Salaam on the Indian Ocean to the port of Mwanza on Lake Victoria, said the statement.

From Mwanza, said the statement, the SGR will extend to neighboring Rwanda, Burundi, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, and Uganda.

This will unlock economic potential by creating new mining and agricultural commodity corridors across Eastern and Central Africa, said the statement.