Samia pledges rail link to give Uganda access to Indian Ocean
Bob Karashani
February 9, 2026
Reporter in Dar es Salaam
Nation Media Group
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Tanzania has outlined plans to extend railway links with Uganda, giving its landlocked neighbour easier access to the Indian Ocean for shipping and cargo.
The plan, agreed by Presidents Samia Suluhu Hassan of Tanzania and Yoweri Museveni of Uganda during weekend talks in Dar es Salaam, includes extending Tanzania’s standard gauge railway (SGR) to Uganda via Lusahunga and building a separate line from Tanga to Musoma on Lake Victoria.
“The SGR extension from the Isaka dry port (in Tanzania) to Burundi and the Democratic Republic of Congo will now include another extension to Lusahunga, from where we have asked our Ugandan colleagues to help with another extension to the Murongo border and further into their own country,” President Samia said after the meeting at State House on Saturday.
Tanzania also pledged to fast-track construction of the Tanga–Musoma line, listed among priority projects in the ruling Chama Cha Mapinduzi (CCM)’s 2025–2030 manifesto.
“This will allow Uganda to ship its cargo across the lake directly to Tanga, and vice versa, without much hassle. The Ugandans have expressed their appreciation for this,” Samia said at a joint media briefing with Museveni.
Museveni made a one-day working visit to Tanzania on February 7 to strengthen bilateral ties, following recent elections in both countries that kept the two leaders in power amid controversy.
The Ugandan President has repeatedly argued that Uganda’s economic progress is constrained by its lack of direct access to the sea, unlike its East African Community (EAC) neighbours Kenya and Tanzania.
The issue featured prominently in his talks with Samia. The leaders also discussed the East African Crude Oil Pipeline (Eacop), trade facilitation and regional security before Museveni returned to Kampala on Sunday, February 8.
They agreed to July this year as the official launch date for Eacop operations. The 1,443-kilometre pipeline will transport crude oil from Kabaale–Hoima in Uganda to Chongoleani near Tanga for export.
Other tentative agreements included removing non-tariff barriers, improving maritime links on Lake Victoria between Mwanza and Entebbe, and developing joint energy projects such as a cross-border clean gas pipeline.
Museveni said African countries must cooperate to protect their economic sovereignty.
“We must move forward and not remain as we were before independence. At the same time, we should not move with arrogance. Big countries may put pressure on us, but what matters is how we resist and build our own capacity,” he said.
In a post on X, Museveni described the meeting as “fruitful”, saying it positioned Tanzania as a key export corridor for Uganda and covered “peace, security and stability in the Great Lakes Region.”
