US$1.4 billion Tazara rail deal puts China on fast track to Africa’s Copperbelt

The Chinese state-owned construction giant that built the Mao Zedong-era Tanzania-Zambia railway is returning to the project with a US$1.4 billion commitment to overhaul and run the line as it increasingly becomes geoeconomically important for China.

In a deal struck on Monday, China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) agreed to an initial US$1.1 billion investment plus a further US$238 million to be reinvested into the severely dilapidated Tazara Railway, as the line is known.

The 1,860km (1,156-mile) line connects Zambia’s Copperbelt region to the Tanzanian port of Dar es Salaam, providing a crucial fast track for copper and cobalt shipments to the Indian Ocean as China and the West rival for key African trading corridors.

But the decades-old railway is operating far below capacity. Its refurbishment gives China an alternative to the congested ports of South Africa and positions Tazara ahead of competing routes – specifically the US-backed Lobito Corridor and the Japan-supported Nacala Corridor.

According to the Zambian Ministry of Transport and Logistics, the deal involves track rehabilitation between Dar es Salaam and New Kapiri Mposhi in Zambia’s Central province, as well as upgrades to major workshops and maintenance of the existing line.

The ministry said the agreement would also see 34 locomotives, 16 passenger coaches and 760 wagons added to the railway’s rolling stock, which would help boost mineral shipments.

South China Morning Post