Engineering Mobility For National Prosperity

Ambitious Public-Private Partnership (PPP) corridors aim to fund capacity increases and unlock industrial parks along key routes. 

Tanzania’s roads and bridges tell a story of purposeful nation building, with TANROADS shaping the plot line through scale, engineering rigor, and steady delivery.  

The agency, created in 2001, entered its Silver Jubilee in 2025 with momentum and a clear sense of mission. “TANROADS is a government agency established on the 1st of July 2001,” Chief Executive Eng. Mohamed Besta says.  

“The mandate is roads and bridges, planning, design, and construction.” The transformation is visible in the numbers. “In 2001, the paved road network in Tanzania was about 3,000 kilometers, and we now have over 12,202 kilometers of paved roads,” Besta says.  

He adds that TANROADS manages a 37,734-kilometer network of trunk and regional roads and that “we intend to have all roads paved”.  

Bridge building has expanded national connectivity from coast to lakeshore. “We have constructed more than 9,600 bridges of different sizes, all across the country,” Besta says.  

Among the signature works is the Magufuli Bridge across the Kigongo–Busisi passage on Lake Victoria. “At three kilometers long, the sixth longest in Africa, and the longest in Eastern and Southern Africa,” Besta says. Another landmark is rising over the Pangani River. “The Pangani Bridge spans 525 meters,” he says, calling it the second longest in Tanzania.  

Aviation infrastructure has been part of the portfolio since 2016, enhancing mobility for business, tourism, and trade. “We are developing Msalato Airport,” Besta says. “It’s going to be the second biggest airport in East Africa.”  

He confirms the schedule with precision. Airport development spans multiple regions. “There are several other airport projects: Tanga, Lake Manyara, Kigoma, Tabora, Shinyanga, and Sumbawanga,” Besta says. 

Dodoma’s emergence as the country’s administrative hub provides a strategic focal point for the aviation plan. “We are going to construct not just an airport, but an airport city,” Besta says. “We’ll have hotels and businesses, a smart city, logistics, and recreation.” 

Technology underpins TANROADS projects from planning to quality control. “During the planning, we’re using software, the latest software on the market for the design of roads and bridges,” Besta says. Materials research is active and expanding. “We have a Research and Development Unit, which will soon be renamed the Research, Development, and Innovation Unit,” he says.  

The team studies local materials and advanced binders to extend pavement life. “They are using plastic to modify bitumen,” Besta says, citing the Malaysian model as a reference point for polymer-modified solutions that improve durability. Modern testing keeps assets resilient over time. “These days you use GPR, ground-penetrating radar,” Besta says. “You place it on the pavement, and it gives you everything.”   

This nondestructive approach accelerates decisions and preserves the structure during assessment, an important edge when managing a large and growing network. Safety initiatives show measurable impact and international recognition.  

“When we placed cameras, accidents went down by 80% in that area,” Besta says, describing targeted enforcement at high-risk hotspots alongside better signage, barriers, and design refinements. “Tanzania managed to get the prize from the World Roads Congress,” he says.  

Capacity building is part of the formula. “I inaugurated the Regional Centre of Excellence in Road Safety,” Besta says. 

Financing the Next Phase 

Financing models are evolving to match the country’s ambition. Partnerships complement traditional funding and keep pace with demand. “We need to think of alternative means of financing, and that is PPP, Public Private Partnership,” Besta says.  

He shares a personal milestone he wants to deliver for Tanzania’s concession roadmap. “I really dream of delivering the first road under a concession, a public-private partnership,” he says, referencing corridors such as Kibaha to Chalinze, where expanded capacity can catalyze enterprise and new urban nodes. 

Building for Lasting Impact 

The human dimension of progress rounds out the picture, from upgraded terminals in Dar es Salaam inspired by Arusha to regional transformations in the north and along Lake Victoria.  

As Besta reflects on a career dedicated to national infrastructure, he keeps the emphasis on quality and durable value. “It’s better to take time to do something and do it well,” Besta says. That ethos now frames TANROADS’ work as it elevates standards, connects communities, and keeps Tanzania moving.