Namibia’s state-owned railway firm TransNamib plans to shift coal exports from Botswana off the street and onto rail by early subsequent yr, doubtlessly doubling exports by way of Walvis Bay port, its CEO stated.
Land-locked Botswana has sought various routes to export its coal as disruption to South Africa’s railway strains influence the commodity’s path to Richards Bay port, the most important coal terminal in Africa.
Demand for coal from Botswana, South Africa and else the place has surged because the European Union positioned sanctions on Russian coal. However these looking for to revenue within the area face large logistical challenges, with many at the moment trucking the fossil gas a whole bunch of kilometres to ports, a expensive and inefficient train.
“Because the railways, we’re a short-to-medium-term resolution to maneuver coal in Namibia by rail,” stated Johny Smith, CEO of TransNamib.
Shifting to rail would minimize transportation prices and allow miners to export extra. TransNamib plans to maneuver round 50 000 tonnes of coal a month off vehicles and on to trains at Gobabis, a city in japanese Namibia 110 km from the Botswana border and about 600 kms from Walvis Bay.
Smith stated, “TransNamib is getting a R2 billion ($117 million) mortgage from the Improvement Financial institution of Southern Africa (DBSA) and the Namibian Improvement Financial institution, to purchase round 20 new locomotives and 300 wagons, a few of which might be used on the Gobabis rail line.”
A spokesperson for the DBSA stated the mortgage can be finalisedby the tip of March 2023. The Southern African Railway Affiliation stated it was indiscussions with the EU and others about railway investments inthe area, together with a deliberate “EU-Africa World Gateway Funding Bundle”.
The EU didn’t instantly reply to a request for additional info.
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