Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema and his Tanzanian counterpart Samia Suluhu Hassan have agreed to accelerate the updating of the 1,710-kilometer (1,060-mile) Tazama pipeline.
The Tanzania Zambia Mafuta (Tazama) pipeline has been running since 1968 and transports more than a million tons of crude annually from Tanzania's port of Dar-es-Salaam to the city of Ndola in Zambia.
As part of a new effort to increase Zambia's fuel imports through Dar es Salaam, both countries have developed a plan under which the pipe will transport diesel, according to reports.
The presidents of both countries discussed the issue during the 36th session of the Assembly of the African Union in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on February 19.
"Our meeting was centered on strengthening bilateral relations in the area of trade facilitation and energy investment between our two countries. At the top of the agenda was the Tazama project," Zambian President Hichilema said.
According to Zambian Energy Minister Peter Kapala, the modernization of the pipeline could help keep oil costs from rising, while guaranteeing road carriers that this will not affect their activities.
The Tazama pipeline is a highly important piece of energy infrastructure for Zambia. The country does not produce oil itself and depends on petroleum imports primarily from Europe and the Middle East. This is due to Zambia not having the access to the sea – unlike Tanzania, which uses its ports to import oil for refining and supplies oil products to Zambia.
Recently, Zambian President Hakainde Hichilema stated the country was planning to import fuel from neighboring Angola to lower oil prices and address supply shocks in the future. Angola is the second largest oil producer in Africa according to OPEC.