Industry related headlines to keep you in the know.
The DRC and Zambia have laid the foundation stone for a new 345-metre bridge over the Luapula River and committed to an 184-kilometre toll road upgrade, anchoring an $850 million corridor project to move copper and cobalt faster onto the port of Dar es Salaam.
Transportation
17 May 2026 • 4 min read
For SADC cross-border hauliers, the project is more than a bridge. It is a deliberate re-routing of the Copperbelt away from the southern corridor and onto the eastern one — with knock-on effects all the way to Walvis Bay, Beira and Durban.
The headline package is an $850 million programme covering a new 345-metre cable-stayed bridge over the Luapula River between DRC's Haut-Katanga province and Zambia's Luapula province, together with the rehabilitation and tolling of 184 kilometres of road linking the bridge to existing corridors feeding Dar es Salaam.
The two governments framed the project as a direct response to the bottlenecks that have constrained DRC cobalt and Zambian copper exports through Q1 2026 — less than half of the most recent DRC cobalt export quota has been physically shipped, with bridge collapses and customs paperwork singled out as primary drivers.
Production context: Zambia copper output fell 4.27% and DRC copper exports fell almost 15% year-on-year in Q1 2026 — the corridor decision is rooted in real volume loss, not policy theory. (Source: Discovery Alert / Fastmarkets, 2026)
Historically, the Copperbelt's exports have flowed south on the Kasumbalesa-Chirundu-Beitbridge-Durban route, with a smaller share moving west through Lobito and a slice running east via TAZARA and Dar es Salaam. The new bridge and toll road are designed to make the eastern routing structurally faster and cheaper than it is today, while the rehabilitated TAZARA line and revived Zambia Railways locomotive fleet absorb growing rail tonnage in parallel.
In a region where corridor share is sticky — once a mine and a buyer build their flow around a route, they rarely switch unless cost or reliability moves materially — an $850 million capital programme is exactly the kind of intervention that does shift share.
If even a quarter of current Copperbelt road tonnage migrates east, the impact ripples across the region. Southern corridor operators running through Kasumbalesa and Beitbridge may see softer outbound legs but firmer backhauls. Walvis Bay and the Lobito Corridor will have to compete harder on dwell time, tariff and last-mile reliability. Beira's already-stretched road corridor benefits if minerals tonnage doesn't flow back through Mozambique.
Insurance, fuel pricing, customs throughput and parts availability along the new route will shape how quickly the project converts into measurable cost-per-tonne gains. The first operational milestones are expected in late 2027, with the toll-road upgrade phased over a 30-month build.
If your route plan depends on Copperbelt mineral tonnage, do not wait for the bridge to open to react. Re-price your 36-month contracts now to account for a more competitive eastern corridor, review your fleet positioning around the new toll road, and decide where you want to plant flag offices, fuel arrangements and bonded warehousing for the next decade of DRC-Zambia trade.
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Visit Laaimylorrie.com| About the Author | |
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Andre Klynsmith Entrepreneur & Technology Enthusiast Andre's expertise spans technology, blockchain, transport, and logistics -- with a passion for innovation and driving positive change across industries. |
| Source: The China-Global South Project — "Zambia, DRC to Build New Road to Expedite Copper/Cobalt Exports Via Tanzania" View source › | 17 May 2026 |
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