Upgrading work has begun on the Dodoma to Mayamaya road in central Tanzania. The country's prime minister Mizengo Pinda inaugurated the 44 km stretch, which is being surfaced with tarmac, on 12 November. The road runs through the middle of Tanzania linking Mbeya, Iringa, Dodoma, Manyara and Arusha before continuing to Kenya.

Work on the road between Dodoma and Manyara in the north east of the country started in June 2010 and is expected to be complete by September 2013. Chinese firm Sinohydro is overseeing the construction along with Dar es Salaam-based engineering consultancy firm, Norplan.

The highway will be a link in a future north-south road designed to connect Cairo to Cape Town.

The concept of a pan-African road can be traced back to colonial times, to about 1890, with the founder of the Rhodesian state Cecil Rhodes being one of the project's main proponents.