Zambia Plans Five New Railway Lines to Boost Trade and Cut Costs

[nngu007]

Zambia's President Michael Sata (C) hopes new railways will enable Zambia to become a regional business hub. European Pressphoto Agency

KAMPALA Uganda–Zambia is planning to build five new railway lines to link its mining provinces to all regional trade corridors, in the landlocked nation's latest drive to boost its inadequate infrastructure facilities, the Zambian presidency said on Wednesday.

The new lines, to be built by the state-owned Zambia Railways, are intended to provide reliable and cost-effective bulk transportation for the mining, agriculture, and energy sectors, the presidency said in a statement.

The railway projects, to be built over the next five years, are expected to help the copper-producing nation end over-reliance on the ailing Tazara railway line through Tanzania, which is the sole railway link to a seaport.

"The development of our railway transport sector will ensure that the country becomes the hub for regional business transactions and thereby accelerate economic development," the presidency quoted President Michael Sata as saying.
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In April, Zambia raised $1 billion from a sovereign bond to fund various infrastructure projects. In 2012, Zambia raised $750 million from its debut bond.

The new lines earmarked for development include a link which will connect the copper-mining town of Chingola to Angola, giving the country's mining heartlands an alternative and shorter export route through ports that dot Angola's coastline. The cost of the planned projects isn't known.

In 2012, the Zambian government restored the management of its railway network to Zambia Railways. The company has since been implementing a $1.5 billion rehabilitation and expansion project on the 2,000 kilometer stretch of railway line.

Zambia has for decades relied on Tazara to export is copper and cobalt through the Tanzanian port city of Dar Es Salaam. But years of under-investment have left the Chinese-built railway line unreliable, forcing miners to opt for the costly road transport to ship minerals through South African ports.

In recent years, the 1,860-kilometer Tazara line has been hit by a spate of work stoppages due to sporadic workers' strikes over unpaid wages.

Last week, Tanzania and Zambia, which jointly own the cash-strapped Tazara, announced that they would inject up to $80 million to bail it out. Zambia is Africa's second largest copper producer after Congo. Last year, the country exported around 900,000 metric tons of copper.



Write to Nicholas Bariyo at nicholas.bariyo@wsj.com.

 

[nngu007]

Watch OUT; The news comes from Kampala, UGANDA... Mmmm President SATA pay a visit MUSEVENI ?

NOW TAZARA is costly and unreliable...

 

[Masanja]

Tusitafute mchawi. Wacha watu wainvest kwenye miundombinu uone kama wazambia au wacongo.. watakimbia. My friend.....show me the money. Siasa na biashara ni vitu tofauti. As long as tunaendekeza siasa na matamko..watu wanataka kufanya kazi na siyo porojo. So to me, I would agree ...as long as hakuna credible investment kwenye hii line ya Tazara tusitafute mchawi. Tutajilaumu wenyewe. Mfanyabiashara anatafuta unafuu wa kusafirisha na kuuza biashara zake na wala siyo kuendekeza siasa za nchi husika. Na ni vema ujue biashara nyingi zinafanywa na private sector.


In business there is no second chance to make first impression.

Masanja

 

[Truth Matters]

Hivi, Uganda inapakana na Zambia? Hiyo reli itapitia nchi zipi? Uganda wana seaport?

 

[AZUSA STREET]

kwenye mitandao ya wazambia wanalalamika kwamba watz tumesema tunataka kujitenga nao ili tuboreshe reli upande wetu hadi kuishia tunduma. wamelalamika sana sana kule zambia. lakini kwa maslahi ya watz nafikiri ni bora kama tutajitenga, kila mtu aendeshe reli iliyoko kwenye ardhi yake, kuanzia dsm hadi tunduma tuendeshe watz, na kuanzia mpakani hadi kaprimposhi waendeshe wazambia.