Southern Africa’s rail networks are changing rapidly as governments and private companies spend billions to move freight from roads to railways.
South Africa, the region’s largest economy, allowed private operators to use its 20,000-kilometer freight rail network in May 2026. The change aims to reduce highway congestion, cut logistics costs, and improve trade links across the 16-member Southern African Development Community.
Private operators take the lead
Transnet, South Africa’s state-owned transport company, has controlled rail freight for decades. Years of underinvestment and inefficiency left the network unable to meet demand. Opening the system to private operators marks a major policy shift, though licensing and competition rules remain unclear.
Success is not certain. Previous rail reforms in Africa have failed due to regulatory delays, funding shortages, and resistance from state monopolies. South Africa’s network is one of the continent’s largest, so its outcome will influence other countries.
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Corridors connect landlocked economies
The rail revival extends beyond South Africa. Several key corridors are being upgraded to link landlocked nations like Zambia, Zimbabwe, and the Democratic Republic of Congo to coastal ports.
The Lobito Corridor, running from Angola’s Atlantic coast to Zambia and the DRC, demonstrates how public-private partnerships can work. A group led by commodities trader Trafigura and Portuguese firm Mota-Engil secured a 30-year concession in 2025, promising nearly $500 million to modernize the line. The Africa Finance Corporation, which helped structure the deal, expects it to finalize by late 2027.
The corridor offers the DRC’s Kamoa-Kakula copper mine a faster, cheaper route to global markets. Before the rail link, the mine depended on trucks to transport concentrate to ports in South Africa and Tanzania.
Other corridors are also advancing. The North-South Corridor, which stretches from the DRC and Zambia to South Africa, has seen upgrades to signaling, cargo handling, and tracks. Zimbabwe and Zambia have prioritized repairs, while Transnet is involved in an initiative to expand rail freight capacity on its northern routes.
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China’s legacy line gets a second life
The TAZARA railway, built by China in the 1970s to bypass apartheid South Africa, is receiving a $1.4 billion upgrade. The 1,860-kilometer line between Tanzania and Zambia had deteriorated, but a 2025 agreement between the two countries and China aims to increase freight capacity fourfold within four years. Transit times between Dar es Salaam and Zambia’s copper belt should drop from 10 days to under five.
Tanzania is also constructing a high-speed electric railway from Dar es Salaam to Rwanda and Uganda. The $900 million project, led by Turkish firm Yapi Merkezi, will be Africa’s first long-distance electric line. The first phase, linking Dar es Salaam to Dodoma, is already in use, with President Samia Suluhu Hassan traveling on it for official duties.
If these projects succeed, SADC’s rail networks could fulfill their potential. The region has a history of infrastructure delays, volatile commodity prices, and political risks, so challenges remain. Still, progress is clear.
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