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The China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) will invest $1.4 billion via a 30-year concession to upgrade the Tanzania-Zambia railway, the line's operator said on Thursday, as competition for Africa's critical minerals heats up.
The railway, which is widely known by its initials, TAZARA, is a key route for copper exports from central Africa, offers a way to bypass logistics bottlenecks in South Africa that have slowed copper and cobalt exports.
"The decision to grant a concession follows an in-depth evaluation of TAZARA's challenges over the years, which necessitated urgent intervention," said Bruno Ching'andu, the CEO of TAZARA Authority, in a statement.
China committed to back the revival of the decades-old TAZARA last year, at a time when the United States was throwing its financial weight behind a rival transport corridor for minerals called Lobito, after an Angolan port.