Trade Expert Praises TAZARA Upgrade

Trade Expert Gilbert Nkamba has praised the recent agreement signed between Zambia, Tanzania and China to upgrade and revilatise the TAZARA railway line.

The railway, which runs from Zambia’s mines on the Copperbelt to the Tanzanian port of Dar Es Salaam, was originally built in the 1970s but has fallen into disrepair. Last week, President Hakainde Hichilema signed an agreement with his Chinese and Tanzanian counterparts to revitalise the line, with China set to invest $1 billion in improvements to help the global export of Zambias critical metals.

“Revitalizing of TAZARA will incentivise foreign direct investment in heavy machinery which is key to boosting regional manufacturing and industrialisation,” said Mr Nkamba, who is also Chief Chitimbwa 11th of the Lungu people of Northern Province.

“Inevitably, trade between Zambia and Tanzania will boom, and as gross domestic product increases, the countries in this region will witness accelerated economic growth,” he added.

Chief Chitimbwa further praised President Hichilema and Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu Hassan for securing the deal. “They did a great job advocating the assistance in revitalizing TAZARA,” he told ZANIS.

The line links Zambia’s mines on the Copperbelt with Tanzania’s main port of Dar Es Salaam. Increasing capacity and speed could improve exports of copper to China, which is the world’s biggest consumer of the metal.

Tazara’s connection to the Indian ocean neatly complements the US and EU-backed Lobito corridor, which links Zambia to the port of Lobito on Angola’s Atlantic coast. The US has recently announced plans to expand this railway to Tanzania as well.

Global copper demand is expected to grow by 2 million tonnes by 2030. President Hichilema has set out ambitious plans to expand Zambia’s production to 3 million tonnes in the next decade, allowing the country to benefit from the global transition to electrification and green energy.