Mozambique, Malawi, Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo have agreed to pursue a major extension of the Nacala Railway Corridor, a move aimed at deepening regional integration, facilitating trade and strengthening access to the Indian Ocean for landlocked countries in southern and central Africa.
The four countries signed a ministerial declaration on December 19 during the 10th meeting of the Nacala Development Corridor Management Committee, held in Maputo. The declaration sets out a shared commitment to expand the existing corridor through the construction of a new cross-border railway linking Zambia to eastern Congo via Malawi and Mozambique.
“This is the path for the Port of Nacala to establish itself as a driver of regional integration and a catalyst for shared economic development,” said Mozambique’s Minister of Transport and Logistics João Matlombe, who chaired the meeting attended by transport and logistics ministers from the four states.
Under the plan, the countries envisage developing a railway line of around 2,400 kilometres, connecting Chipata in eastern Zambia to Serege in the Democratic Republic of Congo, passing through Malawi and Mozambique before reaching the deep-water Port of Nacala on the Indian Ocean.
According to the signatories, the extension would consolidate the Nacala Corridor as a strategic axis for regional integration, providing landlocked economies with a more efficient and competitive route to global markets through northern Mozambique.
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“This project will be an example of African cooperation and shared strategic vision,” Matlombe said, adding that the port and the corridor were “not just physical infrastructures” but “symbols of hope, progress and regional integration”.
The Nacala Corridor is already one of the region’s most important logistics routes, linking Mozambique’s northern coast to Malawi and Zambia through a combination of rail, road and port infrastructure. The existing railway, which was rehabilitated over the past decade with significant private and multilateral investment, has been used mainly for the transport of coal, fuel and agricultural goods.
Mozambique sees the corridor as a cornerstone of its ambition to position the Port of Nacala as a regional gateway, competing with longer and often more congested routes to ports further south. For Zambia and Malawi, both landlocked, access to Nacala offers a shorter outlet to the sea compared with corridors running through Tanzania or South Africa.
Extending the railway into the Democratic Republic of Congo Africa’s second-largest country by area and one of its most resource-rich would significantly broaden the corridor’s economic reach. Eastern Congo produces copper, cobalt and other minerals critical to global supply chains, but transport bottlenecks have long constrained exports and raised costs.
Matlombe said the next phase would require joint mobilisation of financing and the identification of strategic partners to build the railway and associated logistics infrastructure. “The next step should be the signing of an agreement in the first quarter of 2026 that allows us to identify a strategic partner,” he said, calling that phase “decisive in turning our vision into action”.
Large-scale transport projects in the region have often faced delays due to financing gaps, complex cross-border coordination and political risk. Analysts say securing private investment will depend on clear governance structures, predictable regulation and assurances of commercial viability.
Mozambique’s government has repeatedly highlighted the corridor’s potential. In August, President Daniel Chapo described the Nacala Logistics Corridor as having “enormous potential” to boost intra-African trade and support industrial development. His predecessor, Filipe Nyusi, signed agreements in 2023 with Malawi and Zambia to intensify joint use of the infrastructure.
The renewed push comes amid broader efforts by southern African countries to improve regional connectivity under frameworks such as the African Continental Free Trade Area, which aims to lower barriers and boost trade within the continent.
If realised, the extension of the Nacala Railway Corridor would mark one of the most ambitious cross-border infrastructure initiatives in the region in recent years. For the four governments involved, it is being presented as a test case of whether shared infrastructure can translate political commitments to regional integration into tangible economic gains.
