President John Magufuli has confirmed that Turkey will be participating in the construction of the central railway project.
The President who hosted his Turkish counterpart Mr Recep Erdogan at bilateral talks at State House in Dar es Salaam revealed Turkey had been invited to construct 400 kilometres of the facility.
Magufuli said he had asked President Erdogan for a loan to help build the railway to link Dar es Salaam with neighbouring countries including Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi.
The Tanzanian leader said they were sourcing for the funds from the Turkish Exim Bank without specifying the amount. The government plans to overhaul the nearly 1300 kilometres railway into a modern standard gauge railway as part of the industrialisation strategy.
Initially, China appeared to have won the deal to assume construction through a consortium of its companies and pledged $7.6 billion for the entire project. A signed deal with Beijing however was thrown into doubt after the new government overturned it following corruption concerns.
All may not be lost for China, however, as nearly 900 kilometres of the railway will be up for grabs, if the specific reference of the 400 km by Dr Magufuli is anything to go by.
Trade between Tanzania and Turkey has increased from $66 million in 2013 to $190 million in last year. President Erdogan said his government aims to increase investments in Tanzania from $150 million to $500 million.
Meanwhile, Tanzania and Turkey have inked nine Memorandums of Understanding (MoUs) on different areas of cooperation.
