40 years on, remembering Tazara project

A railway line now beset with problems is a symbol of a friendship that was built at considerable cost

The Tanzania-Zambia Railway was China's first big construction project in Africa in the 1970s, built on a $500 million interest-free loan from Beijing to the two countries.

The 1,860-kilometer single track, run by the Tanzania-Zambia Railway Authority, or Tazara, links the port city of Dar-es-Salaam to Kapiri Mposhi in Zambia.

Its principal aim was to transport copper from landlocked Zambia to the coast and from there by sea to its intended destinations.

The launch of the book A Monument to China-Africa Friendship: First-hand Account of the Building of Tazara, held at the Chinese Ministry of Foreign Affairs, was to celebrate the accomplishment four decades ago and to laud the friendship between China and Africa.

While the milestone was, back then, a significant step toward fostering Sino-African relations and to break the economic stranglehold of the minority white governments of Rhodesia (now Zimbabwe) and South Africa, the reality of the railway today is that it is a loss-making, dwindling and unreliable service beset by labor issues.

The railway made it possible to move copper from Zambia without having to transport it through the countries run by those regimes.

Last year, thousands of workers laid down tools after not having been paid for several months.

At the book launch, Tanzanian ambassador to China Abdurahaman A. Shimbo admitted to journalists that the full potential of the railway was yet to be realized.

Tanzania is pinning its hope on the industrialization of certain sectors to turn around the fortunes of the ailing line.

"The real usefulness of the railway will be realized due to our agro-processing and mining," Shimbo said. "We will fully utilize it. Malawi is using the line and DR Congo will use it (in the future). But we have yet to fully realize its potential."

He said that despite the challenges the railway has faced, it has given his country's economy a boost. An example of this is the several small towns that have sprung up along the route.

Shimbo said a team had evaluated the challenges and had compiled a report on what was to be done to turn the railway's fortunes around.

He declined to say how much was needed to be able to do this as the three countries have yet to discuss the findings of the report.

Zambian ambassador to China Gertrude Mwabe agreed that the railway has been dogged by numerous problems in recent years.

"There have been challenges, but the three governments (of China, Zambia and Tanzania) are committed to put it to good use. The issues are well known, but we are committed to making it work.

"The number of coaches has dwindled and we have also had financing problems and workers going on strike. When our state president visited China last year, one of the issues discussed was how to address these challenges."

Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi said the book was an invaluable asset for future generations as it chronicled how the railway helped in the anti-imperialist struggles in the 1970s.

"China-Africa relations have been built on equality from the beginning. The sovereignty of Tazara belongs to Tanzania and Zambia. Somebody once said that it would be 'mission impossible.'"

Wang said the three governments were confident that the railway would be revived into a "prosperous railway".

Wang, Shimbo and Mwabe also paid tribute to the more than 160 people, including around 60 Chinese, who lost their lives during the building of the railway.

Mwabe said Zambia will build a memorial site for the Chinese people who died.

"We will never forget the sacrifice of the Chinese."

One of those who were at the coalface of the railway's construction, former deputy chief engineer on the Tazara taskforce Lu Datong, saw history in the making first-hand.

"I am now in my 80s. Forty years ago, I witnessed the laying of the railway linking Tanzania and Zambia. The Chinese government gave strong support to the project. We worked together with the people and they provided us with the necessary facilities."

The history of the funding for the project is as old as the East versus West construct.

Zambia needed to move its copper to the coast of Tanzania where it could be taken to foreign shores, but there was no railway or decent road infrastructure for it to do so.

The two governments then approached Western countries for finance, but were rejected.

Zambian president Kenneth Kaunda and Tanzanian president Julius Nyerere then went to China and Chairman Mao Zedong agreed to lend the countries the money.

That pact was a momentous occasion in the history of the two regions.

Shimbo said of the deal: "At the time, China did not have the technology, nor was it the economic powerhouse it is today, but it pushed through. Despite the loss of Chinese lives, they still committed to finish the project."

In terms of Africa's overall growth, Mwabe also mentioned the African Union's Agenda 2063 - a gargantuan task of connecting all major African cities by rail; the upgrading of road infrastructure and enhancing technological capacity, to name a few.

The long-term vision is to build an integrated, prosperous and peaceful Africa by 2063.

Wang said China would continue to help Africa in its ambitions, but emphasized that peace was the requirement for stability and growth.

In the short-term, it is vital for the region that Tazara make a real fist of it and becomes a success.

African countries receiving continued funding for projects is one thing, but maintaining and growing a finished product is surely the responsibility of Africans.

In Tazara's case, it is not only economic and political considerations that should drive its desire to see to it that it becomes a sustainable success.

They owe it to the many African and Chinese lives lost during the construction of the project - those who worked side by side to improve the lives of others and who ultimately paid the greatest sacrifice.

The author is the deputy editor of Cape Argus in Cape Town, South Africa. He is on a 10-month scholarship with the China Africa Press Centre and is a visiting journalist with China Daily. The views do not necessarily reflect those of China Daily.

(China Daily Africa Weekly 07/31/2015 page10)