Zimbabwe Railways PPP With Zimasco
The National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) has identified, Private-Public-Partnerships (PPP) as one of the strategies to ensure efficient service delivery to major clients in the face of challenges it is facing. Under the PPP strategy, NRZ is prepared to enter into mutually beneficial arrangements with customers resulting in win-win situations for both the organisation and the customer.
In a demonstration of a successful PPP, NRZ recently received two refurbished GE U20C locomotives which were hired by the Zimbabwe Iron Mining and Smelting Company (Zimasco) from South African logistics company Traxtion Sheltam.
Under this PPP, Zimasco will hire and pay for the locomotives, Traxtion Sheltam will provide the locomotives while NRZ will operate them in addition to providing wagons.
The locomotives will be operated to exclusively carry Zimasco high grade chromite concentrates from Kildonan in Mutorashanga to export markets though the Port of Beira in Mozambique. The locomotives come with technicians provided by Traxtion Sheltam who will be stationed on board to ensure that any technical problems are attended to timeously to minimise delays in transit.
Zimasco decided to hire the locomotives after realising that NRZ was facing challenges to provide the required number of locomotives to move high grade chromite concentrates to the ports.
Since the beginning of the year, Zimasco has produced 160 000 Metric Tonnes (MT) of chromite concentrates of which 71 000 MT were moved by rail and the balance of 89 000 MT by road.
NRZ agreed to the arrangements because of a new thrust to seek local solutions to the challenges it is facing. The availability of dedicated locomotives to move chromite concentrates from Zimasco will see an increase in chromite exports while the NRZ will be able to use its own locomotives for other clients.
While recapitalisation is the way to go in addressing challenges the organisation is facing in the long term, the NRZ recognises that industries such as mining, agriculture, manufacturing, among others- can play a significant role in enhancing the rail giant’s operations and it is prudent for NRZ to explore the PPPs with the local industry to create value in its operations.
