Chinese Government donates RMB 50 million to TAZARA Operations and Maintenance in Special Train Loan

On July 19, 2001, the Chinese Government provided an interest free RMB 50 million loan to the Government of Zambia to support the ongoing operations and maintenance of TAZARA, including donation of spare parts and operations. This project is known as the Special Train Loan. In 1967, the Chinese Government provided an RMB 494 million interest-free loan to the Government of Zambia for the construction of the 1860 km Tanzania–Zambia Railway (TAZARA), stretching from Dar‑es‑Salaam to Kapiri Mposhi. Since then, the Chinese Government has provided a series of grants and loans to support TAZARA by providing spare parts, fuel, technical assistance, passenger coaches, and locomotives.

Additional details

Since loan terms for the interest-free loan are unavailable, AidData has set maturity period to 20 years by default and grace period to 10 years by default per China's Foreign Assistance White Paper (http://www.cidca.gov.cn/2018-08/06/c_129925064_3.htm) which states that the maturity period of interest-free loans is 20 years, with a drawdown period of 5 years, grace period of 5 years, and repayment over 10 years. AidData treats the drawdown period as providing 5 years of additional grace.

Number of official sources

0

Number of unofficial sources

1