Dar to Get a Dramatic Facelift With Big-Dollar Projects

Tanzania’s largest commercial city Dar es Salaam is set for a dramatic facelift in the coming months as several multi-million dollar highway projects take shape.

Top on the list of projects that are expected to transform the city is the Selander Bridge, a $126 million bypass that will be built by a South Korean construction company.

Selander Bridge will stretch from Barack Obama Drive to connect the Aga Khan Hospital and Coco Beach at the junctions of Kenyatta and Toure roads.

The contract for the project was formally signed in Dar es Salaam last month by officials of the Tanzania Roads Agency and executives of South Korean GS Construction Company.

President John Pombe Magufuli and South Korean Prime Minister Lee Nak-yeon witnessed the signing of the contract between the two entities on July 23.

Mr Magufuli urged the contractor to do everything possible to expedite the project.

“With the technology that Korea has, I don’t expect the contractor to delay,” he said.

Selander Bridge is one of the several projects that the Tanzanian government is undertaking in a bid to ease traffic congestion on Dar es Salaam roads, which has been costing the economy an estimated $1.82 million annually.

In addition to monetary losses, traffic jams are blamed for environmental pollution that leads to diseases such as cancer, which cost a fortune to treat.

RELATED: Dar to Get a Dramatic Facelift with Big-Dollar Projects

Other projects initiated to ease traffic snarl-ups in Dar es Salaam include the Tazara flyover, Ubungo interchange, and the Kigamboni Bridge.

The $45 million Tazara flyover, which is fully funded by the Japan International Cooperation Agency (Jica), is nearing its completion – with the contractor putting the final touches on the facility in readiness for its official opening in October.

Work on the $80 million three-storey Ubongo interchange is underway as the State seeks to decongest the junction between Morogoro, Sam Nujoma and Mandela expressways – one of the city’s busiest locations.

Past studies have shown that an estimated 65,000 vehicles – including 6,000 upcountry and transnational buses entering and leaving the city – use the passage daily.

Construction of the Kigamboni Bridge, which was commissioned by President Magufuli in 2016, is currently underway for $135 million.

Plans are underway to build seven flyovers in Dar es Salaam. The bridges will be built at the intersections of Chang’ombe, Uhasibu, Kamata, Morocco, Mwenge, Magomeni and Tabata.

Join 15,000+ pros getting our weekly digest of news and insights.