Tanzania wants to improve its air and rail connections with Rwanda
Tanzania and Rwanda have reaffirmed their commitment to strengthening their bilateral ties, and plans to promote Kiswahili as a common official language, build a railway, and increase aviation connectivity are all being considered.
The 16th Joint Permanent Commission between Rwanda and Tanzania held a ministerial session on Saturday, July 26, in Kigali, where Tanzania’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and East African Cooperation, Mahmoud Thabit Kombo, gave updates on bilateral cooperation.
Rwanda, along with Kenya, currently has the most flights to and from Tanzania of all the neighboring nations, he noted. Daily flights are offered to the nation by RwandAir.
“That is really encouraging because in any kind of relationship, connectedness is crucial. Cooperation on air services is therefore continuing, and we anticipate doing more,” he stated.
Air Tanzania flights to Kigali are scheduled to restart.
Kombo emphasized the performance and service quality of RwandAir while pointing to its significant presence.
“I’ve also been told that RwandAir has brought me and 90% of Tanzania’s delegation and others here. Rwanda Air is therefore doing a fantastic job,” he stated.
With reference to Air Tanzania’s previous flights to the Rwandan capital, which “stopped for several reasons,” he stated, “We are also encouraging them to start their flights to Kigali.”
He stated that in addition to passenger flights, plans were in the works to add cargo services from Air Tanzania, demonstrating that the airline has a sizable cargo fleet and is capable of transporting the cargo for Rwanda.
According to the Tanzanian foreign minister, who conducted talks with his Rwandan counterpart Olivier Nduhungirehe, “the future is very bright.”
Making the railway project possible
Kombo said the two governments were dedicated to executing more ambitious and strategic projects in addition to aviation, like the standard gauge railway (SGR), which would link Tanzania and Rwanda and enhance the movement of products between the two nations.
According to him, Tanzanian ministers are currently deliberating over the technical aspects of the railway’s feasibility assessment and route planning.
Encouragement of Rwandan usage of Kiswahili
One of the few nations in the world having four official languages—English, French, Kinyarwanda, and Kiswahili—is Rwanda, which Kombo praised for adopting Kiswahili as one of its languages.
Only two exist in Tanzania. “As you are aware, Tanzania is the guardian of Kiswahili,” he added, adding that Tanzania is home to the headquarters of Kiswahili for the African Union, the Southern African Development Community (SADC), the East African Community, and throughout the world through UNESCO.
“We must take on more responsibility.”
According to UNESCO, Rwanda speaks more than 200 million people, and Tanzania is ready to help the country further promote its language, he said.
“We want to provide more facilitation, including [Kiswahili] books and teachers,” he stated, adding that they intend to assist future initiatives to promote Kiswahili instruction in Rwandan schools.
He noted that the most common language in East and Central Africa now is Kiswahili.
In general, Kombo was very pleased with the extent of Tanzania and Rwanda’s cooperation.
He stated, “I am happy to see that our two nations have decided to deepen and expand their cooperation in the areas of defense, security, trade, investment, infrastructure development, ICT, energy, and health, as well as in political and diplomatic consultation.”
