Zambia, who are Africa’s leading copper producer, will be investing $120 million to revamp a key copper railway line which links them to South Africa.

The overhaul of the line will take a lot of transport away from road and move it back to rail.

The majority of copper is exported through the port of Durban, but most mining companies have been transporting their copper via road as the railway line has been an unstable option.

Finance Minister Alexander Chikwanda told a media that out of the $750 million that was raised by Zambia through a eurobond, $120 million will be spent on the railway line.

“The matter of investing in Zambia Railways is of top priority and of extreme urgency,” he said.

By making more frequent use of the railway and by taking some of the transport away from road, a lot of money can be saved on repairing road damage caused by heavy trucks.