A Burundian delegation made up of a technical team accompanied by a Tanzanian delegation carried out a field mission in Tanzania from 23 to 28 August 2021 on the visit of the dry port of Kwala-Ruvu in the coastal region of Pwani at around 100 kilometers in the East of Dar es Salaam. The dry port was granted by the Government of Tanzania to the Government of Burundi.
The Burundian delegation was led by Ambassador Jérémie Banigwaninzigo, Permanent Secretary at the Ministry having transport in his attributions. The Heads of Missions from two respective countries were also present: Gervais Abayeho, Ambassador of Burundi in Tanzania, and Dr Jilly Maleko, Ambassador of the United Republic of Tanzania in Burundi. For this field visit, the two delegations first visited the port of Dar es Salaam, from where goods transit to Burundi; Dar es Salaam Railway Station, from which passengers and goods will depart when the modern standard gauge railway is operational; the dry port of Kwala-Ruvu, by taking the dirt road alongside the railway under construction to check the progress of the works and the Morogoro railway station. The land that will host the dry port of Kwala-Ruvu is located along a metric gauge railway, which will facilitate the transportation of goods from there to Kigoma.
The two delegations also went to Kigoma on the site housing the dry port of Katosho, where Burundi will be able to benefit, “on the request of the land with an area of 5 to 10 Ha”. Goods from the dry port of Kwala-Ruvu will transit through the dry port of Katosho before being transported to Burundi. In addition to the dry port of Katosho, the technical teams had the opportunity to visit the port of Kigoma, from where goods transit to the port of Bujumbura. The mission undertaken by the technical teams of the two countries resulted in the following resolutions: the Government of the United Republic of Tanzania must prepare a draft bilateral agreement for the provision of the agreed land, then submit it to Burundi before On October 30, 2021, the two technical teams will meet in Burundi to finalize the bilateral agreement and initial it, the draft bilateral agreement will then be submitted to the authorized legal bodies of the two countries for approval.
The legal act will be followed by the conference, in Tanzania, of the Ministers of the two countries having transport in their attributions to endorse the bilateral agreement, allowing the Government of Tanzania to initiate the process of final allocation of land / dry ports to the Government of Burundi. The meeting of technical teams / experts in Burundi and the conference of Ministers in Tanzania will be held according to a schedule to be agreed between the two parties.
