Lusaka (TDI): China, Zambia, and Tanzania have signed a $1.4 billion agreement to modernize the aging Tanzania-Zambia Railway Authority (TAZARA) line. The agreement has unlocked the most significant upgrade to the historic route since its construction nearly five decades ago.
The agreement was signed during Chinese Premier Li Qiang’s official visit to Zambia, where he joined Zambian President, Hakainde Hichilema, and Tanzanian Vice-President, Emmanuel Nchimbi, to inaugurate the project in Lusaka.
Built in the 1970s with substantial Chinese assistance, the 1,860-kilometer TAZARA railway was originally conceived to give landlocked Zambia direct access to the port of Dar es Salaam, reducing dependence on routes controlled during the apartheid era.
Chinese Premier Li Qiang attended the ground-breaking ceremony of the Tanzania-Zambia Railway revitalization project with Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema and Tanzanian Vice President Emmanuel Nchimbi in Lusaka.
The Tanzania-Zambia Railway is a landmark project of… pic.twitter.com/GEMMePGvhf
— Lin Jian 林剑 (@SpoxCHN_LinJian) November 21, 2025
Today, the line remains central to the movement of copper and other minerals from Zambia’s Copperbelt to global markets. However, years of underinvestment have left much of the track and infrastructure deteriorated.
Under the new agreement, China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) will undertake a 30-year concession to rehabilitate, operate, and maintain the line.
Planned upgrades include full track rehabilitation, station and bridge refurbishment, as well as modernization of signaling and communications systems.
The project also includes the procurement of 34 new locomotives, 16 passenger coaches, and more than 700 freight wagons to bolster efficiency and capacity.
One of the project’s primary goals is to significantly expand TAZARA’s freight capacity, potentially allowing it to handle up to 2.4 million tons of cargo annually.
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Zambian President emphasized that the revitalized railway is key to transforming Zambia into a regional logistics and transport hub, boosting trade not only between Zambia and Tanzania but across the broader Southern and Eastern African corridors.
Premier Li described the TAZARA upgrade as a renewed symbol of China-Africa solidarity, noting that Beijing envisions the railway as the backbone of a developing “prosperity belt” across the region.
He also announced that China would support “small and beautiful” social development projects along the route, including initiatives in agriculture, public health, and poverty alleviation.
The rehabilitation phase is expected to span the first three years of the concession, followed by nearly three decades of joint operations. Officials say the long-term arrangement is designed to ensure sustainability while also providing training and skills transfer to local engineers and railway workers.
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