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* China wants to use railway line to export strategic minerals from Zambia, DRC via Dar es Salaam port
* Beijing plans to model TAZARA on the Chinese-run Ethiopia-Djibouti railway line
* $1 billion could be invested to modernise the underperforming railway line
A task force from the state-run China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) has arrived in Dar es Salaam to conduct a comprehensive business and technical inspection of the Tanzania-Zambia Railway Authority (TAZARA) before China's proposed takeover of the railway line.
The CCECC is negotiating a concession deal with the governments of Tanzania and Zambia to operate TAZARA, as geopolitical tensions rise over control of trading routes for critical minerals in Africa.
The Chinese task force will carry out the inspection from Dar es Salaam to Kapiri-Mposhi to assess TAZARA's operational and business model, setting the stage for the submission by CCECC of a revitalisation proposal for TAZARA to the shareholders of the railway line -- the governments of Tanzania and Zambia.
CCECC, a subsidiary of the China Railway Construction Corporation, is expected to negotiate a public-private partnership (PPP) concession under the build-operate-transfer model with the two governments to operate TAZARA.
The Chinese company wants to upgrade the 1,160km cross-border railway by investing an estimated $1 billion.
"CCECC’s task force team will engage in substantive discussions covering critical aspects, including the operational and management model of TAZARA, the proposed financing plan facilitated by the China Development Bank, local taxation policies, and related matters," TAZARA's spokesman, Conrad Simuchile, said in a statement.
The 11-member Chinese due diligence team is led by Peng Danyang, Managing Director of the Ethiopia-Djibouti railway line.
Denyang's role in the inspection team suggests that China could model the TAZARA concession on the Ethiopia-Djibouti railway line, which operates under a PPP model, involving the governments of Ethiopia and Djibouti and a subsidiary of CCECC.
The governments of Tanzania and Zambia and CCECC have set April 2024 as the target for conclusion of negotiations for takeover of the railway line by China.
The concession is expected to give a much-needed lifeline to the almost 50-year-old Chinese-built line, which is grossly underperforming.
Observers say China's keen interest in taking over TAZARA is linked to its desire to use the railway line for strategic mining exports from Zambia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
China owns substantial copper and cobalt mines in Zambia and the DRC.