China will “revitalize” the aging railway that connects Tanzania and Zambia

China, Tanzania, and Zambia on Wednesday announced that they had inked a preliminary agreement to renovate a dilapidated railway with the goal of enhancing rail-sea transportation in resource-rich East Africa.

The presidents of Tanzania and Zambia signed a memorandum of understanding to renovate the 1,860 km (1,156 mile) Tanzania-Zambia Railway Authority (TAZARA) railway while President Xi Jinping was in Beijing for the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, as reported by the state-run Xinhua news agency.

Using an interest-free loan from China, the single-track TAZARA railway was constructed between 1970 and 1975 to provide a cargo transport route from Zambia’s copper and cobalt mines to the sea on Tanzania’s coast, avoiding South Africa and the former state of Rhodesia.

In 1976, the line—which was mocked as the “bamboo railway” by many Western governments—started operating commercially. Tens of thousands of Chinese and African laborers had to build hundreds of bridges and twenty tunnels during the course of the multi-year project.

“China is willing to take this summit as an opportunity to make new progress in the revitalisation of the Tanzania-Zambia railway, cooperate to improve the rail-sea intermodal transport network in East Africa, and build Tanzania into a demonstration zone for deepening high-quality China-Africa Belt and Road cooperation,” Xi stated, as reported by state media.

In order to promote regional trade and enhance connectivity between Tanzania and Zambia, two neighbors, the World Bank allocated $270 million in financing earlier this year.

China suggested in February that a public-private partnership model be used to finance a $1 billion rehabilitation of the rail route.