Tazara rail line to be privatised

The governments of Tanzania and Zambia are reported to be considering privatising the 1,760km-long Tazara railway line that they jointly own, media reports said on Monday. According to the reports, the parastatal's profits have been dwindling over the last 10 years, whereby its tonnage declined from 1.2 million in 1992/93 to 550,000 mt in the 1996/97 financial year. The railway line, built between 1976 and 1980 by the two governments with a US $5 billion loan from China, reportedly employs about 9,000 workers and links the Tanzanian capital, Dar es-Salaam, with Kapiri-Mphoshi, about 350km north of Lusaka. The reports added that this year alone, more than US $5 million has been lost through derailments and vandalism.