Amb. Emmanuel Mwamba writes:
The Role of the USA in TAZARA
Did you ever wonder why TAZARA locomotives have the United States of America’s logo of partnership on them?
The Tanzania-Zambia Rail Line opened in 1976 nominally to support regional economic integration. Just two years later – by late-1978 – the alleged line’s poor quality and cutting of corners in project delivery left the rail line degraded and with only two operational locomotives.
In response to Zambia and Tanzania’s requests to accountable international partners to rehabilitate “the prematurely decrepit railway”, in the mid-1980s, the United States provided over $45 million (equivalent to over $130 million in today’s dollars) in grant assistance to purchase locomotives and wagons actually capable of traversing the line.
The U.S. assistance went further, providing training for everything from engineering skills to basic maintenance and repair skills. This grant assistance from the American people helped empower Zambians to resurrect and maintain the railway, enabling it to remain operational for these past four decades to actually become a vital artery of regional commerce.
Now that’s partnership!
Photo credit: Matt Hill, Bloomberg