Malawi is expected to benefit from a US$2.3 billion contract with funding from the Chinese government has signed with China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation for the construction of a rail link between central Zambia and the Malawian border.
The 388-km railway, to run from the eastern town of Chipata to the central town of Serenje via another eastern town of Petauke, where it will meet the existing line to Lilongwe and the port of Nacala in Mozambique, will be constructed by China Civil Engineering Construction Company (CCECC), at a cost of $2.3 billion within a four-year period. Zambia’s Minister of Transport and Communication Brian Mushimba said that the railway line will promote local and international trade once completed.
“This project is meant to enhance regional and international trade through the Nacala Development Corridor with a direct economic stimulus in Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique,” he said. A contract to construct a rail link between central Zambia and the Malawian border was signed in the Zambian capital Lusaka on November 2 by minister of Transport and Communications Mushimba and representatives of China Railway Construction Corporation.
