* As Tanzania agree with Angola to link Tazara and Lobito rail corridors to connect to the Atlantic Ocean though Zambia and DR Congo
* The Tazara rail corridor is approximately 125km-130km straight-line distance from Karonga and Chilumba, the northern tip of Lake Malawi
* Malawi government is working on a feasibility study to expand railway connectivity from Lilongwe up to the Northern Region to link with the Tazara Corridor
By Duncan Mlanjira
Malawi’s plans to expand its railway network to connect it from Lilongwe to the Northern Region to link with the Tanzania-Zambia (Tazara) in order to benefit from affordable transportation of goods through the Port of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania.
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If that would materialise, the benefits would be double since there are plans by Tanzania to link the Tazara rail corridor with Angola’s Lobito corridor to connect the country to the Atlantic Ocean.
Last month, Director of Department of Railways in the Ministry of Transport, Eng. Geoffrey Magwede, told the media that Malawi is working on a feasibility study to expand railway connectivity from Lilongwe up to the Northern Region to link with the Tazara Corridor.
The Tazara is approximately 125km-130km straight-line distance from Karonga and Chilumba, the northern tip of Lake Malawi.
The rail station for Tazara Corridor close to Malawi is 860km from Mbeya in Tanzania — which is a road distance from Karonga of over 200km.
Multiple African media outlets quoted Tanzania President Samia Suluhu Hassan last week reporting her plans to expand the Tazara Corridor on her X account.
She is quoted saying Tanzania and Angola agreed to connect their Indian Ocean and Atlantic Ocean transport corridors with a new railway link via Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
The Tazara Corridor connects Tanzania to Zambia, which extends to the DRC and this proposed rail network will be built to connect DRC’s Chingola district to Angola’s Luacano on the corridor named Lobito.
This Lobito route is used by DRC to the Atlantic Ocean while the Tazara is from Dar es Salaam to Ndola in Zambia ending into the DRC before the Chingola district.
Suluhu Hasan meeting with Angola President
Eng. Magwede indicated last month that resource mobilisation for the implementation of the connection to the Tazara Corridor is underway, which is expected to strengthen Malawi’s regional and international trade links by providing an additional railway corridor to the Port of Dar es Salaam.
The government expects the procurement of consultancy services for the feasibility study to be completed within the current financial year, adding that the African Development Bank (AfDB) also expresses willingness to support the feasibility study.
The Ministry of Transport & Public Works is working with the Central Corridor Transit Transport Facilitation Agency (CCTTFA) to support and advance the process.
The initiative is being done in line with the National Transport Master Plan (2017-2037), which recommends shifting cargo from roads to railways and water transport in order to reduce transportation costs and protect road infrastructure in the country.
At the same time, Malawi can, in the short term, also utilise the existing rail link with Zambia — through the Lilongwe-Mchinji corridor that connects to Zambia.
The rail connection to Mozambique’s Nacala Port at Nkaya in Balaka
The Tazara connects Zambia’s copperbelt to Zimbabwe and Botswana and into South Africa.
Channel Africa reports that in 2025, China signed a US$1.4 billion pact with Zambia and Tanzania to modernise the TAZARA railway, which it had financed in the 1970s to facilitate copper exports and fuel imports.
Last week Italian construction firm, Webuild, is reported to have won a tender to build a section of the Zambia Lobito Railway Corridor.
Angola has also invited Tanzania to invest in an oil refinery, with state energy firm Tanzania Petroleum Development Corporation assessing the viability of a partnership in the Lobito oil refinery project, President Hassan is quoted as saying.
The report adds that Tanzania has not indicated whether it will take up an equity stake in a refinery being built in Kenya by Nigerian businessman Aliko Dangote.
East African governments have been offered a 30% stake and Rwanda and Kenya have so far committed to buying shares. Tanzania and Uganda are discussing plans to jointly build another refinery in Tanzania’s port of Tanga.
Tanga is a port on Lake Malawi, from which coal is transportated to Monkey Bay destined for Portland Cement factory in Balaka.
AfriVoice reports that the plan by Tanzania, Angola, Zambia and the DRC working towards connecting to the Indian Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean, “could be a game changer for the entire region”.
“The railway will give the DRC access to two major ocean trade routes, making it faster and potentially cheaper to transport copper, cobalt and other minerals to international markets.
“It could also attract foreign investment, create thousands of jobs, boost local industries and strengthen trade between the four countries.
“This is the kind of regional cooperation Africa needs: countries working together to build infrastructure, unlock economic opportunities and create shared prosperity.
“Africa’s development depends on African countries building together.”
Malawi rail system that is underutilised
Commenting on the development on social media, an economic analyst observed that “leadership is everything in this space to change the Economics of a Nation.
“This railway line is a game changer! Ships from Europe and Americas will just have to go to Luanda — avoiding Mediterranean Sea’s Suez Canal.
“That is huge! Visionaries must see these before anyone in the hidden corners of corruption can! Tap it where it is closest to Malawi; link it to Lake Malawi basi tu zatheka, cheap reliable transport from both Indian and Antlantic Oceans.”
He added that in this scenario, “Malawi is strategically lucky [since] the long narrow country is grographically placed to be a centre of transport connections to all countries south of the Sahara”.
“Nsanje links to Beira-Machinga-Nacala; Mchinji to Zambia; Karonga would connect to Tanzania, Zambia, DRC and Angola. All Malawi has to do is connect itself to transport links just a few kilometers into its neighbouring countries,” said the analyst.
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