Announcement of Joint Financing of Tanzam on Tanzania Highway on February 25, 1969

INTERNATIONAL BANK FOR RECONSTRUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT • INTERNATIONAL DEVELOPMENT .A.SSOOIATION 1818 H STREET, N.W. WASHINGTON D.C. 20433 TELEPHONE; EXECUTIVE 3-6360 Bank Presa Release No. 69/10 s~bJect: Joint Financing of Tanzam IDA Press ·aelease No. 69/8 Highway in Tanzania February 25, 1969 In a joint operation, Sweden, the World Bank and the International Develop- ment Association (IDA) are lending $30 million to Tanzania for rebuilding 310 miles of the Tanzam Highway, a road of international as well as national im- portance~ It gives land-locked Zambia an alternate route to the sea for its import-export trade and is Tanzania's main artery from the fertile southwest to the capital, Dar es Salaam, a port on the Indi~ Ocean. The Bank loan, of $7 million, will be for a term of 30 years, including 10 years of grace, with interest at 6-1/21. The IDA credit, of $8 million, • will be for a term of SO years; it will be free of interest but a charge of 3/4 of lt will be made to cover IDA's administrative costs. The Swedish credit, amounting to a maximum of $15 million equivalent, will be on the same terms as the IDA credit. The Tanzam Highway has been Zambia'• principal route for traffic diverted from Rhodesia since Rhodesia's unilateral declaration of independence in 196S. The poor condition cf the road -- dirt or gravel for the moat part -- baa been hampering the flow of traffic. The passage of heavy trucks baa required extraordinary maintenance expenditures by both Tanzania and Zambia. lven ao, parts of the road are closed, sometimes for several daya, becau•• of break- downs of vehicles or road sections. The Highway, extending nearly 1,000 milea from Zambia'• copperbelt to • Dar es Salaam, is being ~~built over moat of its length to a two-lane paved /more  Bank P.R. 69/10 - Tanzania-Highway • IDA P.R.• 69/8 - 2 - road. Sections in Zambia totaling 357 miles are being reconstructed wit,1 financing from the United Kingdom and two World Bank loans. In Tanzania, a 150-mile section is being rebuilt with financial assistance from the United States Agency for International Development. The project now being financed involves three contiguous sections in Tanzania totaling 310 miles. Execution of the project is the responsibility of the Roads and Aero- dromes Division of the Ministry of Communications. Consultants will super• vise construction which will be carried out by contractors selected on the basis of international competitive bidding. The roads are scheduled for completion by 1971 at a total estimated cost of $38 million. The Swedish, Bank and IDA financing will cover the foreign exchange requirements, estimated at $25.8 million, and part of the local cur• rency costs. The remainder will be financed by the Government of Tanzania. Including the loans announced today, the Bank and IDA will have lent a total of $48.l million to Tanzania for agriculture, education, electric power • and roads. Earlier IDA credit• of $17 million were for the construction ~f six road sections totaling 533 miles; the detailed engineering of a 142-mile section of the Tanzam Highway now to be reconstructed; and the engine~ring of 208 miles of secondary and tertiary roads. All the road projectl are part of Tanzania's plan to upgrade progressively its primary road• and to tmpi'ove and extend other roads in the network to accommodate the growing traffic. - 0 - •