China Railway Construction Corp has announced in a statement published on November 3, that one of its subsidiaries won a $2.3 billion contract in Zambia to build a railway that will connect Chipata (in the East) to Serenje (in the Centre).

Construction works for the 388km-long infrastructure should last four years. The contract for the project was signed by China Civil Engineering Construction Company (CCECC) and Zambia’s Ministry of Transport.

“This project aims at enhancing regional trade and transport competitiveness by providing an alternative trade route to the East Coast of Africa via the Port of Nacala in Mozambique,” Zambia’s Minister of Transport, Brian Mushimba, said at the related signing ceremony in Lusaka.     

According to him, the new railway will also connect Zambia and Malawi through the existing Chipata-Mchinji line.

China’s Ambassador to Zambia, Yang Youming said the project would also help provide access to the sea for various landlocked Southern African nations. “I believe it will be an important part of the integrated southern African transportation system which connects Zambia with Tanzania, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Malawi and Mozambique,” he said.  

Walid Khefifi