The China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) is set to invest $1.4 billion to revamp the Tanzania-Zambia Railway (TAZARA), a crucial transport route for copper exports from central Africa. The planned upgrade aims to enhance the line’s capacity and efficiency, particularly for transporting copper and cobalt, while also bypassing congestion issues in South Africa.
TAZARA’s operator, Bruno Ching’andu, CEO of the TAZARA Authority, explained that the concession decision followed a comprehensive evaluation of the railway’s long-standing challenges, which called for immediate intervention. As part of the agreement, CCECC’s investment will allocate around $1 billion towards the rehabilitation of rail tracks, while the remaining funds will go towards acquiring 32 new locomotives and 762 wagons to improve operational capacity.
This development follows a deal signed last year between China and Tanzania to restore the 50-year-old railway, which serves as a critical link for mineral exports. The agreement comes at a time when the U.S. has been promoting a competing mineral transport route, the Lobito corridor, in Angola. However, Ching’andu assured investors at the Zambia International Mining and Energy Conference that the 30-year concession, comprising three years of construction and 27 years of operations and maintenance, is well underway, despite ongoing negotiations.
