By Isaac Zulu
Management at the Tanzania-Zambia Railway Authority has disclosed that two additional private rail operators will commence operations on the TAZARA rail track.
This came to light during the meeting of the TAZARA Board of Directors held virtually via the e-Government platform.
The virtual meeting was held by TAZARA Board chairperson Stephen Mbewe, co-chairperson Gabriel Migire together with four other Board Members from both countries, namely; Professor Razack Lokina, Rukia Shamte, Stanslous Sichalwe and Peter Kazhila.
The Board reviewed the performance of the TAZARA for the financial year ending 30 June, 2021 and commended management at the railway company for a 19.4 per cent improvement in overall revenue earnings, compared to the previous year ended June 30, 2020.
During the meeting TAZARA management told the Board of Director that one private operator, Calabash Freight Limited – a South African railway firm – during the financial year under review TAZARA’s capacity utilisation increased by 26.6 per cent.
“With the addition of 262, 140 metric tons moved by Calabash Freight Limited, the private operator with access right on TAZARA, the total line capacity utilisation for the year aggregated to 477, 801 metric tons, up by 26.6 per cent compared to the combined volume of 378, 978 metric tons recorded during the financial 2019/2020,” read the communique issued at the close of the TAZARA Board of Directors’ Meeting. “Despite limitations on the movement of people globally due to the COVID-19 pandemic, overall passenger transported was 2, 760, 493 passengers during the financial year 2020/2021, compared to the previous year’s 2, 778, 708 passengers; a drop of 0.66 per cent.”
TAZARA management has since indicated that, due to some positive results recorded under the Open Access Operations arrangement with Calabash Freight Limited, management has found it prudent to sign some Memorandum of Understanding with two more private rail operators.
“The above performance resulted in overall revenue earnings of US$12.689 million earned from other non-operational as well as Open Access fees paid by the private operator plying on the TAZARA rail line. The overall revenue earnings for the past financial year 2019/2020 was US$24.511 million,” the communique further stated. “Whilst noting the positive impact of the private operator on the overall capacity utilisation utilisation of the TAZARA infrastructure, the Board welcomed management’s report that two additional private operators were imminently expected to commence operations upon the conclusion of contract negotiations.”
The TAZARA Board of Directors has since urged to allocate more funds towards the maintenance of the rail track because the traffic flow is is expected to increase.
“In this regard, the Board urged the management to ensure that more funds were allocated towards maintenance of the rail track as traffic flow was expected to increase exponentially with the coming in of two additional players,” the communique stated.
The Board of Directors further disclosed that the TAZARA Council of Ministers at the railway company will soon convene a meeting to make a decision on the proposed Revitalisation Bankable Business Plan that would lead to turnaround operations of TAZARA.
“The Board was confident that, with a new Cabinet now in place following successful general elections in Zambia on 12th August 2021, the TAZARA Council would soon meet to make a decision on the proposed Bankable Business Plan, whose investment outlay of US$558 million underpinned a strong short-to-medium term blueprint for the required transformational actions necessary to turnaround the operations of TAZARA,” the statement further read.
Meanwhile, TAZARA management has been prodded to engage the Zambian government over the closure of Chambeshi River Railway Bridge, which the Board said has consequences on the economies of both Tanzania and Zambia.
“The Board received the report on the closure of the Chambeshi River Railway Bridge in Zambia with anguish, declaring the occurrence as a national emergency with consequences on the national economies of Tanzania and Zambia. The Board directed the management to present the matter to the Government of Zambia for intervention,” it stated.
