DAR ES SALAAM, Feb. 2 -- A LANDMARK of 20th-century solidarity is being rebooted for the 21st. The Tanzania-Zambia Railway Authority (TAZARA), famously known as the “Uhuru” or “Freedom Railway,” is embarking on a comprehensive revitalisation that goes far beyond steel, sleepers and stations.

This is not merely an infrastructure project. It is a strategic masterstroke for the Tanzania and Zambia.

The recent 1.4 billion US dollars agreement signed between China, Zambia and Tanzania is the physical realisation of the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). While policy experts in Addis Ababa and Accra draft the rules for a single African market, the engineers on this 1,860-kilometre stretch from Dar es Salaam ...