50 years on, Chinese role in Africa’s Freedom Railway from Zambia to Tanzania remains on track
- Landlocked Zambia’s vital link to Tanzanian seaport was backed by China with money and lives in the 1970s
- Beijing will now help to revitalise the Tazara, seen as a reason for the unwavering support it enjoys in many African capitals
China will help reconstruct the Tanzania-Zambia Railway (Tazara) – its largest foreign aid project in Africa ever.
The China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation has been appointed to carry out a feasibility study on the project, the Chinese embassy in Zambia announced.
“China is making every effort to prepare for the reactivation of the railway upon Zambian and Tanzanian request again,” Chinese ambassador to Lusaka Du Xiaohui said, adding that Beijing will engage the Zambian and Tanzanian governments to explore ways to make Tazara profitable.
Meanwhile, at a virtual meeting related to the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) last week, Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said Beijing welcomes and “supports the decision of Tanzania and Zambia to reactivate the Tanzania-Zambia Railway”.
“China will continue to actively support and participate in the construction of major infrastructure in Africa through financing, investment and assistance,” Wang added.
China funded the Tazara about five decades ago, under the leadership of chairman Mao Zedong and then premier Zhou Enlai, at a time when the young People’s Republic was itself facing financial difficulties, and just emerging from the tumultuous years of the Cultural Revolution.
Lusaka was desperate for this railway link after white-controlled neighbouring Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe), opposed to the transfer of power to the black majority next door, cut landlocked Zambia’s only outlet to the sea – the road and rail through Rhodesia to the seaports in southern Africa.