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China and Zambia have officially commenced a $1.4 billion initiative to modernise a major railway line designed to transport minerals from Zambia’s resource-rich Copperbelt to ports along the Indian Ocean for global export.
The launch took place on Thursday, marking the start of a significant upgrade to the Tanzania-Zambia Railway Authority (TAZARA) network.
Chinese Premier Li Qiang attended the inauguration ceremony, where Zambia’s President Hakainde Hichilema welcomed the renewed investment.
He emphasised that TAZARA should be viewed not merely as a railway but as a vital economic corridor capable of transforming regional trade and industry.
Beijing has pledged around $1.4 billion to revitalise the 1,860-kilometre line, originally constructed by China in the 1970s with the specific aim of facilitating the transport of Zambia’s minerals to the Tanzanian coast.
The modernisation is expected to span roughly three years and will include comprehensive upgrades to the track, the acquisition of more than 800 locomotives, and the construction of new tunnels and bridges.
A representative of the China Railway Corporation said the improvements will significantly raise freight capacity, enabling the system to move up to 2.4 million tonnes of goods annually.
Under the agreement, China will operate the concession for 28 years before the line is formally handed back to Zambia and Tanzania.
China remains one of Africa’s most prominent trading partners and continues to deepen its involvement in sectors ranging from copper and gold to lithium and rare earth elements.
It is also Zambia’s largest creditor and holds substantial interests within the country’s mining industry.
Zambia itself is Africa’s second-largest copper producer after the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and the seventh-largest globally.
The TAZARA upgrade comes at a time when the United States, the European Union and other partners are backing a separate westward trade route linking mines in Zambia and the DRC to Angola’s Atlantic port of Lobito.
That corridor, centred on extensive redevelopment at Lobito, is intended to provide an alternative channel for exporting minerals from the region.
Both rail projects highlight the growing geopolitical competition to secure access to Africa’s critical mineral resources—viewed as essential for global manufacturing and the transition to cleaner energy technologies.
