This archive report was first published on 17 July 2021.
On Friday, Tanzanian President Samia Suluhu Hassan landed at the Melchior Ndadaye International Airport in Bujumbura, marking her first visit to Burundi as president. She was received by Burundi's Vice-President Prosper Bazombanza.
During her two-day visit, President Samia is expected to promote her country as an investment destination and sign bilateral trade deals. This visit comes after she attended the funeral of former president Pierre Nkurunziza last year.
President Samia and her Burundian counterpart, Évariste Ndasyihsimiye, held a closed-door meeting at the Ntare House, Bujumbura, before addressing the press in the afternoon. They agreed on exchange programmes in the fields of agriculture and livestock, as well as services, mainly in teaching Kiswahili and French.
One of the key agreements reached during the visit is the establishment of a dry port in Kwala, Tanzania, which will be used by Burundians to move cargo. The port will be allocated 10 hectares of land, and President Samia stated that her country has already allocated the necessary resources for its construction.
Additionally, the two presidents discussed the construction of a narrow gauge railway to transport nickel from Burundi. The railway is expected to run from Uvinza to Gitega via Musongati, and the largest deposits of nickel are found in Kabanga, Ngara district in Tanzania, and Musongati in Burundi.
President Samia also celebrated the entry of the Tanzania National Fibre Broadband Backbone in Burundi, which has a capacity of 100GB. In 2019, Tanzania and Burundi signed an agreement to use the system, but the use is still low at 26GB.
President Ndayishimiye has prioritised mending relations with neighbouring countries and the international community. The Tanzanian government has called for the lifting of sanctions on Burundi that were imposed in 2015 when the late president Pierre Nkurunziza contested a third term in the office sparking protests and a political crisis.
President Samia also pledged her support for Burundi's bid to join the Southern African Development Community.
