THE government is implementing 77 road and bridge construction projects valued at 4.6 trn/, a senior official has affirmed.

Mohamed Besta, Chief Executive of Tanzania National Roads Agency (TANROADS) unveiled this in Dodoma yesterday when inspecting progress of the second segment of the 60-kilometer outer ring road construction.

He noted that 25 road construction projects, valued at 1.68trn/, have been completed. Since President Samia Suluhu Hassan took office, she has prioritized road and bridge construction to ease transport and logistics.

 “Road and bridge infrastructure construction is progressing rapidly across various regions, with no project stalled as the government has consistently paid contractors according to their contracts.”

Besta highlighted that 25 road projects spanning 1,198 kilometers, valued at 1.685trn/-, have reached 100percent completion.

Regarding the Kigongo-Busisi Bridge in Mwanza Region funded by 717bn/- in Tanzanian taxpayers’ money, Besta reported that it is now over 94 percent.

“Three weeks ago, when President Samia visited Mwanza, the bridge was at 94 percent, up from 25 percent when she took office. This demonstrates significant progress with only a small portion remaining and the contractor has no outstanding claims for completed work.”

“President Samia has made substantial strides in infrastructure, building a road network totalling nearly 1,200 kilometers—a major feat, averaging around 400 kilometers of paved road annually,” he added.

Thanks to these achievements in road and bridge infrastructure, Tanzania now ranks sixth among 54 African countries for its quality road network, rising from 16th position in 2022, according to data from Statista.com.

Discussing the Lot 2 ring road construction, Besta praised the pace of the project and urged the contractor to complete the work within the scheduled timeframe.