en.Wedoany.com Reported - According to reports from the mainstream African financial media "Africa Business Insider" and Jiayou International, the joint venture for the Tanzania-Zambia Railway Revival Project has been officially signed, with a total investment of approximately $1.243 billion. The project focuses on the restoration of existing lines, capacity enhancement, and subsequent operations. Led by China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC), the project involves multiple Chinese enterprises as shareholders and has been granted a 30-year operating concession by Zambia and Tanzania. Upon completion, it will replace some road freight transport, improving regional mineral logistics efficiency. This move also reflects the trend of the Belt and Road Initiative transitioning from government-led to multi-stakeholder, market-oriented operations.
In the joint venture for the Tanzania-Zambia Railway Revival Project, CCECC holds an 80% stake. Other participants include COSCO Shipping, Zijin Mining, China Molybdenum, and Jiayou International Logistics. According to the plan, the project will restore and enhance railway capacity through line restoration and equipment upgrades (including locomotives and containers), followed by joint freight services by the participating parties. Currently, a significant amount of minerals from Zambia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) still rely on long-distance road transport to ports. The railway upgrade is expected to alleviate road transport pressure to some extent.
The Tanzania-Zambia Railway, with a total length of approximately 1,860 kilometers, was constructed in the 1970s with financing and engineering support from China. It serves as a vital sea access corridor connecting Zambia's Copperbelt to Tanzania's Dar es Salaam Port. In recent years, factors such as aging equipment and lagging management mechanisms have limited the railway's freight capacity, while regional economic development and logistics demands have been growing.
Against this backdrop, the modernization of the Tanzania-Zambia Railway has been placed on the agenda. In 2024, China, Tanzania, and Zambia initiated preliminary studies for a systematic railway upgrade, planning comprehensive improvements in tracks, signaling, traction power supply, and rolling stock to establish the Tanzania-Zambia Railway as a long-term, stable sea corridor facing the Indian Ocean. On November 20, 2025, the groundbreaking ceremony for the Tanzania-Zambia Railway Revival Project was held.
Meanwhile, global competition for critical mineral resources continues to intensify. In December of last year, the United States signed a bilateral agreement with the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), granting U.S. companies priority access to the DRC's critical mineral resources and designating the Lobito Corridor Railway Project as strategic infrastructure. The Lobito Corridor also connects the Central African Copperbelt, but its sea outlet is located at Angola's Benguela Port on the Atlantic coast, providing an eastern and a western sea access direction respectively, alongside the Tanzania-Zambia Railway.
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