Tanzania wants to boost tourism by putting a cable car on Kilimanjaro,  Africa’s tallest mountain

Around 50,000 tourists climb the 19,340ft mountain, which is Africa’s highest, each year.

The government hopes the cable car would increase numbers by 50 per cent by providing access to those unable to climb it.

The country is conducting feasibility studies on possible routes at the moment, Constantine Kanyasu, the deputy minister for tourism told Reuters.

“This won’t be the first time in the world, there are cable cars in South Africa, Sweden, Italy, the Himalayas,” he said.

Kanyasu said the government was looking at business plans, potential investors and profits.

Talks have taken place with a Chinese and a Western company. ‘We are still doing a feasibility study,’ said tourism minister Constantine Kanyasu.

The length of the route has not been finalised, with porter and guide groups leading opposition to it.