The Magufuli Bridge in the Lake Victoria region officially opens to traffic on June 19, 2025. Photo: CCECC

The Magufuli Bridge — a 4.66-kilometer-long dual carriageway spanning southern Lake Victoria was officially completed and opened to traffic on Thursday, according to China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) and China Railway 15th Bureau.

The Magufuli Bridge, the only extradosed cable-stayed bridge in the Lake Victoria region and the longest of its kind in Africa, is a key project of the China-proposed Belt and Road Initiative (BRI) and an example highlighting the fruitful results of China-Tanzania cooperation, according to Chinese Ambassador to Tanzania Chen Mingjian, who attended the opening ceremony. 

Connecting Misungwi and Sengerema districts in the Mwanza region, the bridge provides a vital link to neighboring countries including Rwanda, Burundi and Uganda, helping advance Tanzania's economy, CCECC said in a press release sent to the Global Times.

The bridge took five years to complete and replaces a ferry service that took over two hours to cross the lake. Now, the road journey across the bridge takes less than five minutes, bringing convenience to local residents and injecting fresh momentum into the regional economy.

The opening of the Magufuli Bridge coincides with deepening trade and economic cooperation between China and African countries.

At the recently concluded 4th China-Africa Economic and Trade Expo in Changsha, Central China's Hunan Province, 176 signed projects with a total value of $11.39 billion were announced, up 45.8 percent in project numbers and up 10.6 percent in project value compared with the previous edition, according organizers on June 15.

Of these, 28 were devoted to infrastructure cooperation in countries including Ethiopia, Nigeria and Kenya, with a total value of $5.27 billion, according to China News Service on June 12.

In addition to trade and investment deals, China is further opening its market to African countries to share its development opportunities.

At a Wednesday briefing on China-Africa relations and the outcomes of the Ministerial Meeting of Coordinators on the Implementation of the Follow-up Actions of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), which was held in Changsha on June 11, a Chinese Foreign Ministry official said that China's recent announcement to expand zero-tariff treatment to all 53 African countries with which it maintains diplomatic ties is a major opening-up measure that aims to boost trade and investment cooperation and reduce the China-Africa trade deficit.

China's Ministry of Commerce said Tuesday that the China-Africa Economic Partnership for Shared Development is an innovative free trade agreement between China and African countries. 

Amid rising unilateralism and protectionism, China and Africa are committed to jointly addressing challenges and injecting stability and positive energy into the development of global trade. This major move conforms to the development direction of economic globalization, responds to the expectations of African countries, and complies with WTO rules, the MOFCOM said in a statement. 

 

Global Times