Tazara secures $1.4bn for copper corridor revival
Tanzania, Zambia, and China have signed a $1.4 billion agreement to refurbish the Tanzania-Zambia Railway (Tazara), a key trade route linking Zambia’s Copperbelt to the port of Dar es Salaam.
After two years of talks, the deal was signed in Beijing and commits to a 30-year concession. The line will be managed by China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation, the same firm that built the 1,860-km railway in the 1970s.
Deal highlights include an initial investment of $1.1bn, that will include track rehabilitation, bridge and workshop upgrades, and the procurement of 34 locomotives, 16 coaches and 760 wagons. The first three years will be spent on construction and the following 27 operating the line.
The Tazara railway, completed in 1975 with Chinese financing, was originally built to give landlocked Zambia direct access to the sea, bypassing apartheid-era southern routes. Once a vital copper export corridor, it later suffered from underfunding, outdated equipment, and falling freight volumes.
The new investment aims to restore capacity, reduce transport costs for Zambian minerals, and boost Dar es Salaam’s role as a regional logistics hub. It also reinforces China’s long-standing infrastructure footprint in Africa. Officials expect rehabilitation to begin within months.
It comes at the same time as western nations are backing the Lobito Corridor, a strategic rail and port project that stretches from Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia to Angola. Copper exporters in Africa now face greater corridor competition, stronger reliability, and a choice between Atlantic and Indian Ocean routes. For Dar es Salaam, it’s a chance to reclaim its position as a top regional hub.
