By Maureen Odunga
ONE of the aspects vividly showing friendship between Tanzania and China is the Tanzania Zambia Railway Authority (TAZARA) project-a railway line that has all along played an integral role in
stimulating the economy of the two Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries, particularly in freight business.Linking Kapiri Mposhi in Zambia with Dares-Salaam in Tanzania, the Chinese-built iconic railway has demonstrated a great potential in promoting trade, tourism and friendship between the countries.
The railway line that was previously known as the Uhuru Railway serves as an integral component in fostering development and prosperity also to the hinterland country that is blessed with a lot of copper for export to the global market.
Reports show that after attaining independence in 1960s, the late founding Father of the Nation Julius Nyerere and President Kenneth Kaunda, the founding father of Zambia, reached a significant consensus after thorough discussion to build the railway and link their countries all the way to the Dar es Salaam port in the Indian Ocean.
The two leaders believed it was the only way to break the colonial yoke and consolidate the fruit of independence and achieve economic development.
Due to financial and technology constrains, the two national leaders appealed for assistance and made several trips to many western countries and international organizations in vain, only for China to show readiness to help.
Although China was facing its own economic hardships then, the country went ahead and supported the construction of the railway line by deploying its more than 50,000 engineers and other technical personnel, material and equipment to Tanzania and Zambia.
With GDP per capita only US$ 100 and total foreign exchange reserves as little as US$ 166 million at that time, China was not rich and faced heavy development tasks, but showing concern they helped.
With a total length of 1.860.5 Km the TAZARA railway was constructed making it China's first foreign aid project under the coordination of the then Chairman Mao Zedong in the 1970s and as a symbol of freedom, friendship, unity, perseverance, performance and success.
According to the Chinese Ambassador to Tanzania, Ms Wang Ke , TAZARA is not only a symbolic project featuring China- Africa and China-Tanzania friendship, but also an excellent textbook for the people in the two countries, especially the younger generations, to learn the history of their friendship with the East Africa nation and also create a better future for the bilateral relations.
In her opinion, TAZARA can also serve as an important platform for the Tanzanian Government to promote wildlife protection and tourism since the railway passes through several well-known wildlife conservation areas.
Though the communiqué of the Tazara Board which sat last year, the performance of the Authority recorded a four per cent improvement in freight traffic compared to the previous financial year.
The Board observed that the performance was suppressed by limitations arising from insufficient and unreliable rolling stock (locomotives and wagons) and two natural disasters landslide/ wash-aways that occurred during the financial year, forcing the closure of the line.
"Freight traffic volumes transported by TAZARA for the year increased from 175,597 metric tonnes in 2018/2019 to 182,302 metric tonnes in 2019/2020. With the addition of 196,676 metric tonnes moved by Calabash Freight Ltd, through Open Access operations, the total line capacity utilisation for the financial year further climbed to 378,978 metric tonnes, up by 4.5 per cent from the cumulative volume of 362,710 metric tonnes recorded in the previous year," stated the Communiqué.
Besides, passenger traffic, declined by nine per cent negatively impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic, which compelled the suspension of cross-border passenger trains from March 2020 up to now, inducing a decline in passenger volumes from 3,046,002 passengers transported in the previous financial year to 2,778,708 in 2019/2020.
The communiqué observed that in financial terms, the above performance resulted in overall revenue earnings of US$27.52 million for the financial year ended 30 June 2020, including US$4 million earned from other nonoperating income as well as Open Access Fees paid by Calabash Freight Ltd, the private operator plying on the TAZARA line.
"The Board was happy to note the repair and addition of seven diesel electric mainline locomotives to the current average running fleet of eight mainline locomotives for freight traffic following the shareholders' grant subventions in the last three years. With this enhancement in motive power, the Board expects the challenges that the Authority had been grappling with to subside forthwith," The communiqué noted.
In view of the boost in motive power, the Board anticipates further operational improvements and, hence, found it feasible to task the Management to double the annual freight traffic from last FY's 182,302 metric tonnes to 400,000 metric tonnes in the current FY ending June 30, 2021.
The Board noted that the involvement of the private Open Access Operator in the transportation of cargo on the TAZARA line so far had contributed to a substantial diversion of freight traffic away from the roads and, therefore, aided in slowing down the deterioration of the roads in both countries.
In this regard, the Board directed the Authority to contract more private operators in the transportation of freight traffic on the TAZARA line through Open Access.
The 1,860km-railway con nects landlocked Zambia to the seaport of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania and further provides road and railway inter-connectivity to other parts of Southern Africa.
Basically, TAZARA provides a communication backbone for the three regional groupings of SADC, the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) the East African Community-EAC.
However, it is considered that TAZARA still has some facilities and potentials, which have not been fully utilized, including the Training Centre in Mpika, Workshops in Mpika, Mbeya and Dar es Salaam, 6 fuel storage facilities and warehouses located throughout the line.
Located in close proximity with the Mpika Workshops, the TAZARA Training Centre currently has capacity to accommodate more than 300 students, with plenty of scope for expansion.
The workshops will also be utilized as part of the training facility for hands-on practical skills development.
President John Magufuli made a stopover at TAZARA Main Station in Dar es Salaam before he boarded the train on his way to Kisaki, Morogoro Region and met his Zambian counterpart, Edgar Lungu in 2016.
During the meeting, the two Presidents discussed among other issues, TAZARA's long-standing challenges.
He said their decision was aimed at restoring TAZARA's ability to serve its customers independently, noting that in 1976, it transported five million tonnes of cargo annually, but due to low investment caused by lack of new engines and wagons, the figure had dropped to less than 300,000 as of last year.
"It was agreed that it was essential to review and restructure the legal frameworks so that any side that wants to invest can do so without hindrance," he pointed out, adding: "Currently, neither country can invest without the consent of the other, but must do so together. We must restructure the laws; TAZARA is for both countries but legal provisions should allow any of the two countries to be able to conduct investment activities."
The process is taking too long; the matter is supposed to be treated urgently for TAZARA to survive, he noted.
"We will not abandon TAZARA; it is the realization of the thoughts of our founders (Kenneth Kaunda and Mwalimu Julius Nyerere) aided by china; this is in their memory. TAZARA will never die in our hands," he stated.
Last year, the government dished out 10bn/- to support the revamping of the Tanzania Zambia Railway Authority in attaining its goal of operating commercially.
Speaking after inspecting two locomotives in which new traction motors were installed in Mbeya Region, the then Minister for Works, Transport and Communications, Eng Isack Kamwelwe, said the move will boost efficiency and increase transportation of cargo.
Besides, TAZARA being an economically viable railway line in Tanzania and Zambia, the authority is facing financial constraints among other challenges for its smooth operation.
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