The need for a new link connecting Zambia and Tanzania became evident when, in 1964, Northern Rhodesia (from then on Zambia) won its independence from Britain. Zambia became a landlocked county whose vital outlet to the sea ran through opponents’ territories. In 1964 Portugal was still controlling Mozambique and Angola, Southern Rhodesia was still under British dominion, while South Africa was ruled by a white minority. Moreover, in 1965 Southern Rhodesia proclaimed its Unilateral Declaration of Independence (UDI). The illegal declaration entailed a series of United Nation’s (UN) resolutions escalating to a complete embargo on goods to and through the country. The embargo affected Zambia more than Rhodesia, that could count on supply by South Africa. The specific geopolitical situation inevitably led Zambia to turn towards its most politically reliable neighbour: Tanzania. Tanzania has been independent since 1961and was governed by the socialist and pan-Africanist Julius Nyerere. Despite the fact that both countries had been British colonies since WWI, the only physical connection between the two was a road (the Great North Road) built in 1917 to convey British troops from Northern Rhodesia to the East African Front. In 1968, after 4 years of intensive use since the UDI, the dirt track, which was impassable during the rainy season, ‘had earned the evocative name of “hell run”’ .

https://contourjournal.org/index.php/contour/article/view/97