Let investments benefit the common man: Kagame

President Jakaya Kikwete confers with his Rwandan counterpart, Mr Paul Kagame, yesterday in Dar es Salaam during the regional forum on the Central Corridor.  PHOTO | VENANCE NESTORY 

Dar es Salaam. President Paul Kagame of Rwanda yesterday said the multi-billion- shilling investments undertaken by governments in the region should be geared towards uplifting the lives of ordinary citizens. 

He gave the example of the Central Transport Corridor which is expected to reduce the cost of doing business in East and Central African countries when it is revamped.

In his keynote address to the Central Corridor Investors Forum in Dar es Salaam yesterday, Mr Kagame said multi-billion-shilling investments would be useless if the impoverished poor in the project countries do not feel the impact of its benefits.

And for the benefits to be felt across the region, he said,  a free, mutually beneficial market is a necessary condition.

“Our people on the ground cannot and will not prosper with fragmented markets. “They must have a clear stake and sense of ownership of the project,” President Kagame said.

He added that the political will expressed by regional leaders must be translated into tangible results if the aspired transformation is to be realised. For this kind of “ambitious” project to come to fruition, the Rwandan leader said, there was no substitute for engaged leadership.

“We know what to do and how to do it. “The cost of waiting is too high.”

Mr Kagame added that although the project seemed ambitious on the outset, it is economically sound considering the fact that it is making the region more integrated and well connected to the rest of the continent and the world.

“If these benefit factors are considered, the price tag for this project becomes so cheap,” he said.

Speaking at the same forum, President Jakaya Kikwete said that Tanzanians would not experience real prosperity during his remaining time in office but expressed optimism that good times are just around the corner.

He said with efficiency at the port of Dar es Salaam coupled with the ease of transporting cargo to landlocked countries being implemented under the Central Corridor project, the storm is almost over.

“It will not happen during my time in office but I am now sure that it will happen soon,” said Mr Kikwete.

To that end, the Head of State said under the Central Corridor initiative, Tanzania has already reduced non-tariff barriers (NTBs) between Dar es Salaam and Kigali from 49 to three, consequently cutting the number of days a truck takes on the route from eight to three.

He added that with the installation of what he termed “intelligent” weighbridges at Vigwaza in Coast Region, Manyoni in Singida Region and Nyakahura in Kagera Region, road transport would be tremendously transformed.

The automated weighbridges do not require vehicles to stop, they are drive-though machines that detect overloaded vehicles on the move, saving a lot of time.

However, the President said, the major aim that was agreed upon by East African member states is to shift from metre gauge to standard gauge railway.

“The plan is to build another standard gauge along the same line,” he said in response to a question on whether Tanzania would achieve its ambition to transport 30 million tonnes by 2025 by using the current railway infrastructure.