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.”