By Cecilia Chiluba/Zambia/Lusaka
Zambia’s Minister of Transport and Logistics has called on African governments to collaborate in the improvement of transport infrastructure across the continent.
Frank Tayali was speaking during the official closing of the 10th Tripartite Meeting of The Nacala Development Corridor Management Committee in Maputo.
“The development of corridors could be one of the ways of improving transport infrastructure,” he noted.
Mr. Tayali further implored technocrats to help policymakers actualize such developments.
The Minister acknowledged the role technocrats play in enhancing development, further urging them to help actualize policies.
Earlier, Zambia, Malawi, Mozambique and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) pledged to collaborate on the construction of a new railway line from Chipata to Serenje.
This is part of the Nacala Development Corridor the four stakeholders have been collaborating on, which led to the signing of the declaration yesterday.
The four nations also declared to work together on the rehabilitation of the rail line from Nacala in Mozambique to Mchinji in Malawi.
They further reaffirmed their commitment to continue working together towards successful implementation of the Nacala-Chipata-Serenje railway Project, treating it as a priority and to directly involve all stakeholders in the three countries starting with government institutions.
The stakeholders also agreed to jointly approach financial institutions and other international cooperation partners in order to secure funds for the Project.
They further agreed to continue with their joint efforts to finalize negotiations for the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) for the Project with the intention of having it signed sometime in March 2026.
According to a statement issued by Ministry of Transport and Logistics Principal Public Relations Officer, Ernest Chanda, the declaration was signed in three original texts including English, French, and Portuguese with all texts being equally authentic.
