US$1.4 billion Tazara rail deal puts China on fast track to Africa’s Copperbelt
The construction giant of the Chinese state that built the Mao Zedong period Tanzania-Zambiya Railway He returns to the project with a commitment of $ 1.4 billion and increasingly executing and running the line. Geoeconomicly important For China.
In an agreement on Monday, the Chinese Civil Engineering Construction Company (CCECC) agreed that the first $ 1.1 billion investment plus 238 million USD, as it is known, was seriously re -deposited into the railway.
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The 1.860km (1,156 miles) line connects the Bakirbed region of Zambia to the narrow Es Salaam port of Tanzania and provides an important fast way for copper and cobalt shipments to the Indian Ocean as a China and Western rival.
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However, the railway capacity is working well below the decades of railway. His renovation gives China an alternative to the congested ports of South Africa and positions Tazara in front of the US-backed Lobito corridor and Japan-backed Nacala corridor before the rival routes.
According to the Ministry of Transport and Logistics, the agreement includes rehabilitation between the narrow Es Salaam and New Kapiri Mposhi in the central province of Zambia, as well as upgrades to large workshops and maintenance of the current line.
The Ministry said that the agreement will also see 34 locomotives, 16 passenger coaches and 760 wagons to the railway stocks of the railway, which will help to increase mineral shipments.
Tazara Monument Park in Zambia commemorates the Chinese citizens who died during the construction of railway in the 1970s. Photo: Xinhua Alt = Tazara Monument Park in Zambia commemorates Chinese citizens who died during the construction of the railway in the 1970s. Photo: Xinhua>
The agreement gives CCECC a 30-year concession under a building-transfer model dedicated to the first three years of restructuring, and then 27 years of operation to compensate for its investment.
Aly-Khan Satchu, a geoeconomic analyst under-Sahara, said that the model, which he calls the “renovation-operation-transfer”, was clearly the “Yellow Brick Way” for the big ticket infrastructure on the continent.
“I’m sure China and especially CCECC mathematics, reflecting the forward curve for lock commodities like copper, and I’m sure that mathematics shows that it is a ‘Islamic Dunk’,” he referred to the profitability and vitality of the concession of Tazara.
Zambia Transport and Logistics Minister Frank Tayali said that the project is about to “not only restore the infrastructure, but to revive regional integration, economic growth and common welfare.”
“This agreement limits farmers, merchants and industries to the markets and a life line that connects them to the markets beyond,” on Monday. He said.
Makame Mbarawa, the Tanzanian counterpart, reiterated the thought by saying that the project will “bring business and economic benefits to our people”.
CCECC’s main company China Railway Construction Corporation (CRCC) President Dai Hegen emphasized the company’s registry by referring to projects such as Ethiopia-Djibout Railway.
Tazara was built by CRCC between 1970 and 1976. The project was financed with interest -free loans from China after refusing to finance the Western construction and still holds the railway. A special place In relations with China.
According to Tim Zajontz, a research assistant at the University of Stellenbosch, Tazar passed a “carefully weighed business case” for China.
The geoeconomic importance of the Tazara Railway had increased, because Chinese companies controlled a key road for the world’s largest copper, cobalt and manganese deposits.
Zajontz, a temporary professor in international relations at the University of Freiburg, predicted that the narrow es Salaam corridor would gain a greater share of the regional burden after being renewed.
In addition to the latest developments in the capacity of the harbor and relatively short sails to China, “having a Chinese company operating Tazara, the transport of collective cargo and containers overnight will increase the Chinese customer base for the transportation of the Chinese customer,” he said.
The Central-South Africa region has become the central base of the renewed global resource struggle directed by the global green energy transition.
For critical minerals, this competition also made major investments to secure supply chains and encouraged the West to adopt a “risk” strategy by reducing its confidence in Chinese logistics networks.
The US -backed Lobito corridor, which includes Congo and Angola, aims to diversify mineral supply chains.
The main feature is a 1.700km railway that connects the Lobito port on the Atlantic coast of Angola to the Kolwezi of the Republic of Democratic Republic of Congo.
Separately, Japan plans to expand the investment in the Nacala corridor, which connects Zambia and Malawi to the port of Nacala on the eastern coast of Nacala on the eastern coast.
Zajontz described competition as “a new struggle for valuable African resources” and the main source of geoeconomic power on the control infrastructure. These rival infrastructure investments have shown that Africa is deeply related to increasing great power competition.
According to Satchu, Lobito’s rival route is “one yarn on the carpet” and “Chinese carpet is knitting. Thus, the renewal of the tazar will put pressure on the economy of the lobito corridor.”
