And there are plans to revive the war-battered Benguela railway, to connect Zambia's copper belt with the Angolan port.

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It has helped rebuild the Tanzam railway, for example, linking Zambia's copper belt, where China has large projects, and Dar-es-Salaam, where it has modernised the port.

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When Celtel, a mobile-phone operator, set up in Zambia eight years ago, it concentrated on the densely populated corridor between Victoria Falls (on the border with Zimbabwe), Lusaka and the industrial copper belt.

ECONOMIST: Business in Africa