Rail solutions will kickstart economic growth

Southern African countries need to work together to find solutions to the rail crisis if they want to see economies truly grow. This was the message from Titus Tulipohamba Haimbili, president of the Southern African Rail Association (Sara) at the opening of the organisation’s annual conference in Sandton recently. “This conference is taking place amidst the challenges of a global melt-down, and while we are not nearly in as bad a state as some of the developed economies, now more than ever integration is needed,” he said. “This is also the message from our political leadership who are committed to countries in southern Africa working together to achieve its goals and see our economies grow.” Haimbili said southern Africa’s failing rail infrastructure necessitated integration if it was to be revitalised. “Public spending across the region has been changed from the public wage bill to infrastructure investment, which is very encouraging,” he said. “Sara continues to exert efforts to see improvement of railway performance and the development of the railways in SADC, but to achieve this we must work together.”