Zambia and China signed a landmark $1.4 billion deal to overhaul the TAZARA railway, with Tanzania also on board as a partner nation. The revamp will modernise more than 1,800 kilometres of rail infrastructure connecting landlocked Zambia to the Indian Ocean, boosting copper and fuel exports through Tanzania. The agreement was announced during Chinese Premier Li Qiang’s first visit to Zambia in 28 years, ahead of the South Africa G20 Summit. Li praised China’s strategic partnership with Zambia and reaffirmed Beijing’s support for the nation’s development and debt restructuring. Once completed, freight capacity on the railway is expected to surge from 100,000 tonnes to 2.4 million tonnes annually.
