Tanzania’s Arusha-Holili Highway Project May Now Be Completed With $200 Million Loan From Japan

The long-awaited completion of improvement of Tanzania’s existing single carriageway road between Arusha and Holili/Taveta on the Kenyan border via Kilimanjaro International Airport and Moshi City into a state-the-art highway, may now be realized after Japan provided a 24.31 billion Yen (equivalent to about $200 million) concessional loan for the project. A deal for the loan is said to have been signed by the Embassy of Japan in Tanzania and the Government of Tanzania on February 4, 2022, in Dar es Salaam.

According to the Embassy of Japan in Tanzania, aspects and sections of the road improvement project that will be covered by the loan include the following.

• Construction of a 0.560 kilometre long new bridge over Kikafu River alias New Kikafu Bridge

Proposed New Kikafu Bridge on Arusha-Holili/Taveta Highway. Illustrative 3-D drawing

• Upgrade of Tengeru-Moshi City and Moshi City-Holili sections of the existing Arusha-Holili/Taveta road

Proposed Tengeru-Moshi section of Arusha-Holili/Taveta Highway. Illustrative 3-D drawing

Already two sections of the road improvement project have been completed. The sections are as thus.

• A new 42.4 km bypass road around Arusha City

• Widening into a dual carriageway of 14.1 km section that stretches from Sakina to Tengeru

According to some recent reports, upgrade of 2 sections of the road improvement project, namely Tengeru - Usa River (11.35 kilometres), and Kiborloni - Maili Sita (11.32 kilometres), to 4-lane dual carriageway highway standard, will begin in May 2025.

That will be followed shortly by construction of the proposed 0.560 kilometre New Kikafu Bridge that reportedly will be a 4-lane dual carriageway concrete extradosed bridge, and 4.0 kilometres of approach 4-lane dual carriageway roads.

Thereafter or probably simultaneously, remaining sections of the project, i.e., Usa River-New Kikafu Bridge, New Kikafu Bridge-Maili Sita, and Kiborloni-Holili, will be upgraded to 2-lane single carriageway highway standard with Right-of-Way (RoW) of 45 meters, say the reports. Reportedly, the sections will be converted into 4-lane dual carriageway highway standard in the future when traffic volumes increase to levels that justify such an upgrade.

Located just about 80 km from each other with Kilimanjaro International Airport in between, the cities of Arusha and Moshi present a strong economic corridor that could easily become the "East Midlands of East Africa" when the modern upgraded Arusha-Holili/Taveta Highway is eventually completed.

Arusha-Holili/Taveta Highway is part of an East African highway project that stretches from Arusha in Tanzania to Voi in Kenya. The Voi-Taveta/Holili stretch has been completed. _____________________________ © 2015 - 2022 Africauptodate. All Rights Reserved