The Tanzanian government launches a $1.4 billion plan to revive the Tazara railway line
Tanzania aims to transform the port of Dar es Salaam into a strategic logistics hub for East Africa, improving trade links with landlocked countries. The government has signed a $1.4 billion agreement with the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (Ccecc) for the rehabilitation of the 1,155-mile Tanzania-Zambia (Tazara) railway line, built in 1976 with Chinese funding.
The agreement provides for a thirty-year concession to Ccecc for the reconstruction of the line, which is essential for the export of Zambian copper. With the goal of tripling production by 2031, the modernization of Tazara will allow Zambia to improve access to international markets and avoid the bottlenecks of the South African corridor.
The project will also strengthen the position of Dar es Salaam relative to the port of Mombasa, with which it competes to attract traffic from the hinterland. President Samia Suluhu Hassan announced new reforms to simplify the transit of goods between Tanzania and Zambia, including the expansion of the Tanzam Highway to four lanes and the construction of a 1,800-acre dry port along the road axis.
The results are already visible: according to government data, cargo volumes destined for Zambia increased from 3.7 to 9 million tonnes in one year, while the port of Dar es Salaam reached a record 27.7 million tonnes of cargo handled in /25, a 15% increase compared to the previous year.
The success is attributed to port reforms and private sector participation, particularly the management of DP World and Tanzania East Africa Gateway Terminal Limited, which have made the port more efficient and competitive in the regional market.
