The East African country of Tanzania plans to build a nearly 50 km long bridge, which will be the largest bridge in Africa.

According to reports, the bridge will connect the mainland to the Zanzibar islands in a move that is expected to boost trade and the country’s economy, which on the islands is driven mainly by tourism. 

The bridge, which is yet to be named, will connect Tanzania’s major city, Dar es Salaam with the archipelago in the Indian Ocean, whose islands sit between 25 and 50 km off the coast of the African mainland.

Zanzibar is made up of many small islands and two large islands, Unguja, informally known as Zanzibar and Pemba Island. 

The Tanzanian government’s promotion of the island led to a rise in tourism, from 19,000 in 1985 to almost 638,500 in 2023.

The statement adds that in May 2023, Geoffrey Kasekenya, Tanzania’s Deputy Minister of Works and Transport, announced that the China Overseas Engineering Group Company (COVEC) has expressed an interest in collaborating on the project and was involved in talks with stakeholders on both sides of the proposed bridge. 

The statement adds that Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan, was said to be prioritising boosting trade with the rest of the continent and taking advantage of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) agreement, wrote Construction Briefing.

It says that the government is also discussing plans to build a rail link with Kenya and an electrified railway to connect with Burundi, passing through the Democratic Republic of Congo in an attempt to reduce trade barriers. 

Original proposals for the Tanzania-Zanzibar bridge date back to 2020, with an expected completion date of 2028. However, little progress has been documented since the announcement in Parliament in spring 2023. 

At the time, the government’s estimated cost was set at USD 2.7 billion and is expected to be a public-private partnership, with some funding from the African Development Bank. 

The statement adds that currently, the longest bridge in Tanzania is the Mkapa Bridge, which spans the Rufiji River, the longest in the country. The new bridge, however, is expected to be 50 times longer.