China, Tanzania and Zambia signed an initial agreement to rehabilitate a railway, Chinese media reported on Wednesday. This is aimed at improving rail-sea transportation in the resource-rich East Africa.
President Xi Jinping witnessed the signing of the MoUs on refurbishing the railway line with the Tanzanian and Zambian presidents. They were in Beijing attending the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation.
The railway line in question is the 1,860 kms long Tanzania-Zambia Railway Authority (TAZARA) railway.
The single-track TAZARA railway was built between 1970 and 1975 through an interest-free loan from China.
It offered a cargo transport route from Zambia’s mines to the sea on Tanzania’s coast that bypasses South Africa and Rhodesia.
Commercial operations of the line, derided by some Western governments at the time as the “bamboo railway”, began in 1976. The multi-year project involved the construction of several tunnels and bridges by thousands of Chinese and African workers.
“China is willing to take this summit as an opportunity to make new progress in the revitalisation of the railway. It is willing to cooperate to improve the rail-sea intermodal transport network in East Africa. It will cooperate to help Tanzania build into a demonstration zone for deepening high-quality China-Africa Belt and Road cooperation,” said Xi, according to state media.
Africa Connectivity
Earlier this year, the World Bank approved $270 million in financing to improve connectivity between Tanzania and Zambia and boost regional trade.
In February, China proposed to spend $1 billion to rehabilitate the rail line through a public-private partnership model.
China’s President Xi Jinping will open the ninth Forum on China-Africa Cooperation Summit on Thursday. Here, he might urge African leaders gathered in Beijing to absorb more Chinese goods in exchange for pledges of loans and investment.
China also approved loans worth $4.61 billion to Africa last year. This is the first annual increase since 2016.
(with inputs from Reuters)
