The Tanzania-Zambia railway will get a $1.4 billion investment from China’s CCECC

The operator of the Tanzania-Zambia railway announced Thursday that the China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC), as competition for Africa’s vital minerals intensifies, will invest $1.4 billion through a 30-year concession to modernize the route.

The railway, commonly referred to by its initials, TAZARA, is a vital conduit for the export of copper from central Africa. It provides a means of avoiding the logistical delays in South Africa that have impeded the export of copper and cobalt.

“A thorough assessment of TAZARA’s difficulties over the years, which required immediate action, led to the decision to grant a concession,” said Bruno Ching’andu, CEO of TAZARA Authority, in a statement.

At a time when the United States was investing heavily in a competing mineral transportation corridor named Lobito, after a port in Angola, China pledged last year to support the resuscitation of the decades-old TAZARA.