China Starts $1.4 Billion Revamp of Mao-Era African Railway

Zambia initiated a $1.4 billion overhaul of a key railway linking the southern African nation’s copper region to a port on the Indian Ocean, in a ceremony that marked the first visit by a Chinese premier to the country in almost three decades.

The launch of the upgrade by Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema was attended by Chinese Premier Li Qiang and Tanzanian Vice President Emmanuel Nchimbi. It follows a September agreement by the three nations to revamp a route originally financed and built with Beijing’s assistance under Mao Zedong in the 1970s.