The East African Community railway line project that will connect Rwanda – Tanzania and Burundi will cost about US$5.2 billion (R46.3 billion).

Donald Gilltrom, senior vice-president and chief engineer at Canarial – a Canadian consultancy firm that was hired to conduct a feasibility study for the project – says: “The final study will be complete in February and the remaining big challenge will be for the governments to solicit funds for the construction to commence.”

According to the consultant, if the funds are obtained, the project will take four years to complete.

Once completed, the long-awaited project is expected to lower the country’s transport costs, which increase the cost of doing business when goods are transported from both ports of Mombasa, Kenya and Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.

The time it takes to transport cargo from Dar es Salaam to Kigali by rail will be reduced to only two days compared to the current three to four days by road.

Apart from connecting the landlocked countries to the sea and lowering the costs of importation, the project is also expected to ease the deterioration of the regional road network.

The issue of poor infrastructure is regarded as a hindrance, especially towards the integration process in the region. During a recent retreat of the EAC heads of state in Nairobi, Kenya, the leaders directed the Council of Ministers to develop an investment strategy with clear financing options and time frames for priority projects, with an effective monitoring and evaluation mechanism to ensure that projects are effectively implemented and managed.