Zambia and Tanzania have signed a $1.4bn agreement with China to modernise the Tanzania–Zambia Railway (Tazara), a strategic line linking the central African copperbelt to the Indian Ocean port of Dar es Salaam, Bloomberg reported on Monday (September 29). 

Tazara, stretching 1,860 km, has suffered decades of underinvestment and is operating far below capacity. The project revives infrastructure built with Chinese financing and expertise in the 1970s.

The rehabilitation aims to restore the efficiency of the railway line at a time when copper shipments from Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) are placing unprecedented pressure on regional transport corridors.

With most ore currently moved by truck, congestion at border posts has become a persistent bottleneck. The upgraded railway is expected to cut transport times and provide a more reliable alternative for exporters moving bulk minerals to port.

The railway project also carries geopolitical weight among a scramble to secure supply chains for critical minerals.

Tazara’s development emerged during a period of resistance to Western influence in Southern Africa, after the US and Russia declined to finance the project, citing economic concerns.

Tazara (Tanzania–Zambia Railway)

• Route: Dar es Salaam (Tanzania, Indian Ocean) ↔ Kapiri Mposhi (Zambia, copperbelt)
• Length: 1,860 km
• Origins: Built 1970–75 with Chinese financing/engineering, $500mn at the time (then China’s largest overseas project).
• Current state: Operating far below capacity after decades of underfunding.
• Revamp: $1.4bn China–Zambia–Tanzania deal signed September 2025.
• Strategic role: Reduces dependence on trucking routes; relieves border congestion; symbol of Sino–African ties.

Tazara is in competition with the US- and EU-backed Lobito Corridor, a $3bn to $4bn rail and port project aimed at channelling copper and cobalt from the same mineral-rich central Africa belt to the Atlantic coast of Angola. For African governments, the rivalry offers potential leverage in negotiating financing, tariffs and service standards.

The Lobito Corridor has gained momentum as Washington and Brussels promote it as a “transparent alternative” to Chinese-backed infrastructure. Centred on Angola’s Lobito Port and the rehabilitated Benguela Railway, the 1,300 km corridor is already operational to the DRC border, with plans to extend links deeper into the copperbelt. The project is supported by the US, EU, African Development Bank (AfDB) and private operators.

Lobito Corridor

• Route: Lobito Port (Angola, Atlantic Ocean) ↔ DRC copperbelt ↔ Zambia (planned extensions).
• Length: 1,300+ km (rehabilitated Benguela Railway + new connectors).
• Origins: Colonial-era line modernised in 2010s; now centerpiece of US–EU–Angola partnership.
• Current state: Operational to Lobito; expansion ongoing to connect Zambia and DRC seamlessly.
• Funding: US and EU backing, with World Bank and African Development Bank support.
• Strategic role: Diversifies export routes; reduces reliance on east-coast ports; framed as “transparent alternative” to Chinese projects.