Zambia secures €60 million to rebuild Kapiri Mposhi to Ndola railway as Government plans to open the lines to private trains

Zambia has secured an initial €60 million to rehabilitate the Kapiri Mposhi to Ndola section of the national railway line, Finance Minister Situmbeko Musokotwane told Parliament on Friday 6 November while presenting the 2027 Budget. The Government is looking for other partners to pay for work on the remaining sections of the Zambia Railways network. Under the plan, Zambia Railways Limited would act as the railway infrastructure manager, and freight and passenger train services would be opened to private operators under what the Government calls an open access model. Mr Musokotwane said the Government will repeal and replace the Railways Act, Cap 453 of 1984, to improve how the railway is run and to make sure the infrastructure can be financed on a lasting basis. ## Border and corridor plans The Minister said expanding exports must lead the Grow Zambia Agenda. The Government is developing strategic transport corridors that will also serve as economic corridors, and producers of the identified export commodities, along with other possible exporters, will be encouraged to invest along them. The Lobito Corridor, which links Zambia to Angola and the Democratic Republic of Congo through road, rail and border infrastructure, could open wider regional and international markets. At the borders, the Government is working with the private sector to speed up trade processing, improve the monitoring of cargo and cut smuggling. On roads, work has started on the Mutanda-Kisasa-Mwinilunga-Jimbe road and on the Kasempa turnoff to Kabompo via Mufumbwe road, and the Government plans to build, upgrade or rehabilitate 787 kilometres of roads nationwide. Mansa and Mfuwe airports are expected to be completed in 2027, and work on Nakonde Airport will continue. ## Background The Lobito railway is a separate project, with construction expected to begin in the fourth quarter of 2027. Rehabilitation of the Tanzania-Zambia Railway Authority (TAZARA) line is already under way, and the Gove