Railway link with Zambia feasible
Line set to connect Angola, Botswana, DRC
The Trans-Zambezi extension is set to spur trans-border movement to and from Walvis Bay and give effect to Namibia's Vision 2030 to become the transport hub for landlocked countries.
A feasibility study into the extension of Zambia’s rail network into Namibia has found that the project is financially and environmentally viable and should go ahead.
Commissioned by Namibia’s transport ministry and carried out by MR Technofin Consultants, the study was funded by the Namibian government and the African Development Bank.
The study involved the construction of the 772-kilometre Trans-Zambezi Railway extension from Grootfontein to Katima Mulilo via Rundu in Namibia and is part of a multinational railway line between Namibia and Zambia via the Zambezi Region.
It will also facilitate connectivity with Angola, Botswana and the southern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
According to the feasibility study, securing Namibia’s position as a regional hub is the main motivating objective of the study, with expectations that the Trans-Zambezi extension will spur trans-border movement to and from Walvis Bay from neighbouring countries and give effect to Namibia’s Vision 2030 to become the transport hub for landlocked countries.
The key conclusion is that the proposed 772 km line is viable from a technical, environmental, legal, financial and economic standpoint, and should move forward. The final feasibility study has been submitted to the ministry.
Mining activity
According to a statement issued by the Canadian mining outfit Tsodilo Resources, which is active in the region, the aim of the project is to stimulate the development of mining activity along the corridor running from the port of Walvis Bay to Lubumbashi in the DRC. This would allow Zambia, Namibia and the DRC to export copper and other minerals to buyers in China, Europe and America.
It said the cross-border rail project aims to link new mines and mining activities to the railway network along the Walvis Bay-Ndola-Lubumbashi Development Corridor to enable transportation of minerals from Zambia’s Copperbelt to Walvis Bay.
“This corridor is perfectly positioned to service the two-way trade between the SADC region and Europe, North and South America and emerging markets in the east,” it said.
Tsodilo Resources called the proposed extension “an important development”.
Commissioned by Namibia’s transport ministry and carried out by MR Technofin Consultants, the study was funded by the Namibian government and the African Development Bank.
The study involved the construction of the 772-kilometre Trans-Zambezi Railway extension from Grootfontein to Katima Mulilo via Rundu in Namibia and is part of a multinational railway line between Namibia and Zambia via the Zambezi Region.
It will also facilitate connectivity with Angola, Botswana and the southern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
According to the feasibility study, securing Namibia’s position as a regional hub is the main motivating objective of the study, with expectations that the Trans-Zambezi extension will spur trans-border movement to and from Walvis Bay from neighbouring countries and give effect to Namibia’s Vision 2030 to become the transport hub for landlocked countries.
The key conclusion is that the proposed 772 km line is viable from a technical, environmental, legal, financial and economic standpoint, and should move forward. The final feasibility study has been submitted to the ministry.
Mining activity
According to a statement issued by the Canadian mining outfit Tsodilo Resources, which is active in the region, the aim of the project is to stimulate the development of mining activity along the corridor running from the port of Walvis Bay to Lubumbashi in the DRC. This would allow Zambia, Namibia and the DRC to export copper and other minerals to buyers in China, Europe and America.
It said the cross-border rail project aims to link new mines and mining activities to the railway network along the Walvis Bay-Ndola-Lubumbashi Development Corridor to enable transportation of minerals from Zambia’s Copperbelt to Walvis Bay.
“This corridor is perfectly positioned to service the two-way trade between the SADC region and Europe, North and South America and emerging markets in the east,” it said.
Tsodilo Resources called the proposed extension “an important development”.
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