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Inside China’s Sh2.5 trillion proposal for Tazara rehabilitation
A Tanzania-Zambia Railway Authority train. PHOTO|FILE
What you need to know:
- The railway, also known as Uhuru Railway or the Tanzam Railway, links the Dar es Salaam Port in eastern Tanzania with the town of Kapiri Mposhi in Zambia's Central Province.
- The Tanzanian and Zambian governments handed the concession to run the so-called Tazara railroad on a commercial basis to a Chinese state-owned company.
Dar es Salaam. The renovation of the Tanzania-Zambia Railway (Tazara) is forecasted to cost $1 billion, which is equivalent to Sh2.5 trillion, according to a refurbishment proposal prepared by China.
The railway, also known as Uhuru Railway or the Tanzam Railway, links the Dar es Salaam Port in eastern Tanzania with the town of Kapiri Mposhi in Zambia's Central Province.
The Chinese Ambassador to Zambia, Du Xiaohui, revealed the figure on Wednesday, February 8, 2024, when submitting a project proposal to Zambia’s Transport Minister, Frank Tayali.
“The investment amount would be over the coming years,” the Chinese envoy to Lusaka was quoted as saying during a live broadcast event through a state owned media outlet.
The Tanzanian and Zambian governments handed the concession to run the so-called Tazara railroad on a commercial basis to a Chinese state-owned company.
Contacted on Friday, February 9, 2024, the Transport Ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Prof Godius Kahyarara declined to comment, suggesting the matter to be discussed during a scheduled interview, “Let us set an interview to comprehensively deliberate the matter.”
However, the authority’s head of public relations, Mr Conrad Simuchile said he was aware of the proposal submission, noting however that the document hasn’t yet been submitted to Tazara.
“Having handed over to the ministry in Zambia, the same should have been submitted to its Tanzanian counterpart’s docket. We will only be in a position to comment on it after the document has been submitted to us,” he said, over the phone.
Regarding the task force from the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) formed to study the line before submitting the proposal, Mr Simuchile confirmed that it had completed its work.
He said after concluding its work, the useful information has been used for the preparation of the proposal that will ultimately be submitted to Tazara.
A statement issued by Tazara on December 12, 2023, says that the task force would engage in substantive discussions covering critical aspects, including the operational and the authorities’ management models, proposed financing plan facilitated by the China Development Bank (CDB), local taxation policies, and related matters.
The 11-member team was led by the Ethiopia-Djibouti Railway in East Africa Managing Director, Mr Peng Danyang.
The firm operates under a public-private partnership model, involving collaboration between the governments of Ethiopia and Djibouti and Railway Operation Limited, which is the CCECC subsidiary.
“Review deliberations are positioned to enhance and refine the Tazara revitalisation proposal, preparing it for thorough consideration by successive layers of authority that have been established for Tazara’s revitalisation agenda,” reads part of the document.
“The proposition will undergo scrutiny by the Tanzania-Zambia Joint Technical Committee, followed by evaluation from the Tanzania-Zambia Steering Committee and, ultimately, the refined proposal will be presented to the Tripartite Working Group, which includes Ministers from the Governments of Tanzania and Zambia, as well as China’s Ambassadors to Tanzania and Zambia,” reads another part.
China built and financed the 1,860-kilometer (1,156-mile) railway in the 1970s, but it’s since fallen into disrepair, operating at a fraction of its design capacity.
The line will compete directly with another railroad the US is backing to connect Zambia westward to the Lobito port on Angola’s Atlantic coast.
Both being parts of the efforts to expand export routes for copper and cobalt mines from Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
The region is becoming central to efforts by the US and the European Union to secure access to minerals that support electric-vehicle manufacturing, and which are critical to the broader energy transition.
China, Tanzania and Zambia will undertake the revitalisation of Tazara using a public-private partnership model, according to the Beijing representative to Lusaka.
The announcement came a day before the US was due to host an investment forum for the Lobito corridor in Zambia, with President Joe Biden’s energy and investment adviser, Amos Hochstein and President Hakainde Hichilema among the key speakers.
