The governments of Botswana, Mozambique and Zimbabwe recently signed a partnership document for construction of a railway of over 1 700 kilometres through all three countries to facilitate trade, reported Zimbabwe’s Chronicle newspaper.
Around 1 500kms of the railway will be located in Zimbabwe and there will be 100 kilometres in both Botswana and Mozambique. Each government will provide US$200 million in funding and seek to establish a public-private partnership for the project.
The railway is to end in Mozambique at Ponta Techobanine in southern Maputo province where a deep water sea port will be built – and designed to relieve the current pressures on the Port of Maputo.
An international consortium, which includes the port company China Harbour Engineering Co (CHEC), is projecting an investment of US$1 billion in the new port in Maputo province. It is intended to serve Mozambique and neighbouring countries, including SA.
The project is being promoted by a consortium led by Mozambican company Bela Vista Holdings (BVH) which in addition to CHEC, includes SA’s Transnet Freight Rail (TFR), according to weekly newspaper Savana.
