In a landmark infrastructure development for the region, Tanzania’s Magufuli Bridge will now be fully operational in 2026, transforming the movement of people and goods across Lake Victoria and reshaping trade routes in East Africa. Officially opened to traffic in June 2025, the bridge spans approximately 2 miles across the southern end of Lake Victoria connecting the Misungwi and Sengerema districts in north-western Tanzania.
Before the bridge was built, there was no road connection between Kigongo and Busisi. The bridge now reduces travel time by ferry from two to three hours to just five minutes by road.
The project was fully financed by the Government of Tanzania and was built by a joint venture of two Chinese companies, China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation and China Railway 15th Bureau.
China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation said in a press release that the bridge “reduces cross-lake transportation costs by 10% to 15%.”
The project cost more than TZS 700 billion which is approximately £199 million. The bridge was officially opened to traffic on June 19, 2025. The inauguration was led by President Samia Suluhu Hassan. The bridge is expected to benefit more than one million people living around Lake Victoria.
Construction began in 2019 and it was previously named the Kigongo-Busisi Bridge. It was later renamed in honor of the late President John Pombe Magufuli, who launched the project before his death.
The structure is the longest extra-dosed cable-stayed bridge in Africa and reportedly the second longest bridge with a stayed cable system after Egypt’s Suez Canal Bridge.
One TripAdvisor user said of the bridge: “The bridge is fully functional and crossing that creek is very easy. It’s a very impressive engineering feat. No tolls either.”
