Maputo, 6 Feb (AIM) – The African Development Bank (AfDB) has granted a loan of 40 million dollars to Mozambique’s publicly owned Ports and Rail Company (CFM) to purchase rolling stock for the Ressano Garcia railway line in the south of the country.
The rolling stock in question includes locomotives, wagons and tanker wagons.
According to an AfDB statement, this line generates over 90% of the volume of rail traffic and represents 70 per cent of CFM’s overall rail transport volume.
The investment includes the purchase of 10 diesel locomotives with 3000/3300 horsepower, 300 wagons and 120 tanker wagons.
The funds will also cover a three-year maintenance programme for the locomotives purchased and the training of CFM maintenance staff.
“The project will also significantly increase foreign exchange revenue, which could rise from 225 million dollars in 2022 to 360 million dollars in 2036. During this period, the project is expected to bring the government a cumulative total of one billion dollars in tax revenue”, reads the document.
The project is also expected to strengthen intra-African trade and regional integration by increasing the capacity and volume of goods transported from neighboring countries via the most efficient route, with Mozambique serving the neighboring countries of South Africa, Eswatini, Malawi, Zimbabwe and Zambia, providing them with ports for exporting and importing their goods.
The project “will potentially reduce congestion and journey times and reduce the number of road deaths by transferring traffic to the railways”, it says.
The AFdB statement points out that, despite the positive results, 2022 was marked by several negative factors such as cyclones, rail derailment incidents, poor rail freight supply and the consequences of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
(AIM)
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