Wedoany.com Report-Mar 24, China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) will invest $1.4bn in an upgrade of Africa’s longest railway – the 1,860km “Tazara” line that connects Zambia’s copper belt with the port of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania.

A diesel locomotive on its way between Livingstone and Lusaka

In return, CCECC, which built the line in the early 1970s, will run it for 30 years.

Beijing had agreed in principle to pay for the upgrading of the line last September, but did not name a figure.

A memorandum of understanding to that effect was signed in Beijing and witnessed by presidents Xi Jinping of China, Samia Suluhu Hassan of Tanzania and Hakainde Hichilema of Zambia.

The news was given by Bruno Ching’andu, the chief executive of the Tazara Authority, at the Zimec mining conference in Zambia.

 “The decision to grant a concession follows an in-depth evaluation of Tazara’s challenges over the years, which necessitated urgent intervention,” he said.

Some $1bn of CCECC’s money will go towards the rehabilitation of the tracks and the remainder will be used to buy 32 locomotives and 762 wagons, Ching’andu said.

‘Major overhauls’

CCECC will also conduct “major overhauls and continuous maintenance” throughout the concession period. The initial rehabilitation work is expected to last three years.

The line will be handed back to the two states after the concession period.

Ching’andu added that the concession would mark “the beginning of a new era” for Tazara.

“The investment from CCECC will not only restore our railway infrastructure but also position Tazara as a key enabler of trade and economic growth between Tanzania and Zambia,” he said.

Deadly bees

The single-track line was built by CCECC between 1970 and 1975 and financed by an interest-free loan from the Chinese government. The project was presented at the time as a demonstration of solidarity between China and the newly decolonised African states.

Its aim was to allow Zambia to export its copper and cobalt without going through colonial Rhodesia or apartheid South Africa.

More than 160 workers, including 64 Chinese nationals, died during construction after being stung by bees.

The line gradually fell into disrepair over the next 50 years. It was announced in December 2023 CCECC would examine the engineering and economic cases for revitalising it.