Tanzanian Official Publicly Mocks Kenya For Taking Huge Loans From China to Build the Standard Gauge Railway

A video of an unnamed Tanzanian official mocking Kenya for borrowing so much money from China to build the Standard Gauge Railway went viral in East Africa this week.

“I do not want to mention the country but it built a railway line using loans. The country is not far from here; they have built it on loans and after completion, it will take more than 25 years to fully repay back the money,” said the official at a press conference.

“The cost of the railway of the neighboring country, the cost of the line is thrice the cost we are building ours in Tanzania under our President John Pombe Magufuli,” he said. 

The official’s comment is a bit odd, though, because his own government announced in February that it will borrow $1.46 billion from Standard Chartered Bank to build its own Standard Gauge Railway.

Nonetheless, retweets of the video multiplied quickly, with many Kenyans agreeing with the official’s sentiments that Kenya had paid too much for its railway and is now stuck with a “white elephant.”

Read more on this story on the Tuko News website.

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The post Tanzanian Official Publicly Mocks Kenya For Taking Huge Loans From China to Build the Standard Gauge Railway appeared first on The China Africa Project.



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