Each nation plans its network; the spines join them.
Where rail already exists — the Lobito corridor, TAZARA, the Mombasa–Nairobi and Addis Ababa–Djibouti lines, Morocco’s Al Boraq — MMC corridors follow it, upgrading the line or running above it on viaduct.
Routes are indicative. Corridors are drawn city to city, through the cities on the existing railway wherever a line exists: MMC corridors follow those lines, upgrading the line or running above it on viaduct. Where no line exists, the corridor is new build. Final alignments are set at detailed design by terrain survey, geotechnical analysis, environmental and cultural heritage assessment, and agreement between the nations they connect.
| Nation | Corridors | Straight-line km | Built km (×1.2) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Egypt | 4 | 2,000 | 2,400 |
| Libya | 1 | 1,400 | 1,600 |
| Tunisia | 2 | 700 | 900 |
| Algeria | 2 | 3,000 | 3,600 |
| Morocco | 3 | 1,400 | 1,700 |
| Niger | 2 | 1,300 | 1,600 |
| Nigeria | 6 | 2,600 | 3,100 |
| Senegal | 3 | 700 | 800 |
| Mali | 1 | 400 | 500 |
| Burkina Faso | 1 | 500 | 500 |
| Côte d'Ivoire | 3 | 900 | 1,100 |
| Ghana | 1 | 500 | 600 |
| Sudan | 2 | 2,700 | 3,300 |
| Ethiopia | 3 | 1,800 | 2,100 |
| Kenya | 3 | 1,500 | 1,800 |
| Uganda | 1 | 200 | 200 |
| Tanzania | 4 | 2,400 | 2,900 |
| Zambia | 3 | 1,500 | 1,800 |
| Zimbabwe | 2 | 1,300 | 1,500 |
| South Africa | 6 | 3,700 | 4,400 |
| Mozambique | 2 | 800 | 1,000 |
| Angola | 2 | 1,400 | 1,700 |
| DR Congo | 2 | 2,000 | 2,500 |
| Cameroon | 1 | 700 | 800 |
| Chad | 1 | 800 | 1,000 |
| Republic of the Congo | 2 | 1,100 | 1,300 |
| Namibia | 2 | 900 | 1,100 |
| Botswana | 2 | 1,100 | 1,400 |
| Madagascar | 2 | 900 | 1,100 |
| Western Sahara | 1 | 500 | 600 |
| Mauritania | 1 | 500 | 600 |
| Gambia | 1 | 0 | 0 |
| Guinea-Bissau | 1 | 100 | 100 |
| Guinea | 1 | 200 | 200 |
| Sierra Leone | 1 | 200 | 200 |
| Liberia | 1 | 400 | 500 |
| Africa | 76 | 42,000 | 50,500 |
Cross-border links are counted separately. Built km = straight-line km × 1.2 (stated assumption).
- African Spine: Cairo – Aswan – Khartoum – Gondar – Addis Ababa – Moyale – Nairobi – Arusha – Dodoma – Mbeya – Lusaka – Harare – Johannesburg – Cape Town. About 9,100 km straight-line (10,900 km built).
- Trans-Sahel Line: Dakar – Bamako – Ouagadougou – Niamey – Kano – N’Djamena – Nyala – El Obeid – Khartoum. About 6,200 km straight-line (7,400 km built).
- Three Continents Line: Cairo to Riyadh through the Strait of Tiran crossing. About 2,400 km straight-line (2,800 km built).
The loops: west to east across the Sahel, north to south down the spine, the Lobito corridor from the Atlantic to the Indian Ocean, and the Kinshasa–Katanga and Trans-Kalahari lines joining Central and Southern Africa.
Nation pages
Central Africa · East Africa · North Africa · Southern Africa · West Africa