The Sunday Mail
Government will soon refurbish the national rail network to double cargo moved to 2,5 million tonnes yearly, Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa has said.
Negotiations with private companies have reached an advanced stage, he said, and the plan will ease operational deficiencies at the debt-laden National Railways of Zimbabwe.
This fits into a broader economic project of boosting the transport industry’s efficiency as part of the Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-Economic Transformation.
“We will soon conclude agreements on the refurbishment of the rail network in the country, which will result in increased carrying capacity,” VP Mnangagwa told the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries Congress in Gweru on Friday. “Currently, our rail infrastructure has very limited capacity; it can only move 1,2 million metric tonnes of cargo a year, which is very poor.”
The NRZ operates about 3 400km of railway lines, catering for both freight and passenger services.
However, ageing infrastructure and spares shortages have seen it only use a fraction of this network in recent years.
In 2013, the parastatal transported just 3,6 million tonnes of goods, down from 18 million in 1998.
NRZ chair Mr Alvord Mabhena told The Sunday Mail in early 2015 that the entity needed US$2 billion to clear debts and replace locomotives.
VP Mnangagwa on Friday said Government wanted to further boost freight moved to five million tonnes in three to five years.
“The plan is to have another railway line to add on to the ones under construction now. We are in discussion with Mozambique. This will go to Makawane, crossing the Zambezi River. We are in the process of finding a funding model for that.”
VP Mnangagwa assured industrialists of Government’s commitment to addressing industry’s problems and turning Zimbabwe into a regional manufacturing hub.
At the same congress, Finance and Economic Development Minister Patrick Chinamasa said authorities were concluding the Special Economic Zones Bill.
“The ball is in the Attorney-General’s Office; we are spearheading the legal framework. We also invited a team of experts from China who are working with us on the implementation of this concept.”
