THE National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) says it has adopted an inward-looking approach, as part of initiatives to improve its fortunes, where it will seek to fully exploit homegrown solutions to reboot operations and enhance efficiencies.
The State-owned rail operator says this is critical to maximise the company’s contribution towards the achievement of an upper middle-income economy status by 2030.
The NRZ’s new strategic focus is in sync with the President’s mantra, “Nyika inovakwa nevene vayo/Ilizwe lakhiwa ngabanikhazi balo”, as the country journeys towards the envisioned upper middle-income economy society.
In a wide-ranging interview over the weekend, the recently appointed NRZ board chairman Mike Madiro said his organisation was entrusted with the huge responsibility of facilitating the bulk movement of cargo across all economic sectors.
However, he said, NRZ at the moment is grappling with operational inefficiencies emanating from the entity’s grounded infrastructure and signalling system curtailing the railways firm from executing its mandate.
In this context, economic players have been compelled to use the road network as an alternative for bulk movement of freight, but this is costly to the nation as the roads get damaged by haulage trucks as they transport cargo.
Mr Madiro said his board and management have adopted the homegrown solutions approach to address the NRZ’s infrastructure and signalling system deficiencies, which have adversely impacted on operational efficiency of the entity. NRZ has the capacity to haul 18 million tonnes annually, but at the moment is moving an average of 2,3 million tonnes.
At its peak in the 1990s, the NRZ moved 14 million tonnes of freight.
“We need to rehabilitate our network so that it is able to service the various sectors of the economy. In terms of the infrastructure (rail) and signalling system, we need to make sure that they are rehabilitated. The signalling system has ground to a halt and you can imagine using cellphones for physical control of movement of trains to avoid collision of trains.
“That is very inefficient because after all we have got network connectivity challenges,” he said.
Zimbabwe’s railway network system stretches 2 760 kilometres, but due to the waning of the infrastructure over the years, the rail network has cautions (the equivalent of potholes in the road network) totalling 64 and covering a distance of more than 254 km.
The knock-on impact of the cautions in the railway network is that they cause derailments and operational inefficiencies that cause delays in the movement of trains.
“We need to upgrade our signaling system and given that scenario as chairman and my team (board and management), we need to recognise that Zimbabwe is endowed with human capital and together with my team, we want to make sure that we work very closely with our institutes of higher learning.
“I am aware some of them like the University of Zimbabwe have developed a very good signalling system which we can adapt and adopt in our railway system.
“So, we are going to work very closely with our innovation hubs, we are aware of the education 5.0 technology where we are developing local solutions to our local problems so the NRZ is going to work very closely with our institutions of higher learning as far as the signals are concerned,” he revealed.
“You have heard our President saying ‘Nyika inovakwa nevene vayo/Ilizwe lakhiwa ngabanikhazi balo’, what does it mean?
“We need to use our local skills which are abundant, there is this culture that has developed in some institutions of thinking that all solutions are foreign.
“But I can tell you that the philosophy by the President is very pertinent in this case because I realise that we may lack the financial resources to a certain and greater extent, but in terms of other resources, human capital to rehabilitate and reconstruct, upgrade and standardise our system, we have got it in this country.
“Therefore, my approach as chairman and my board and management is to look and focus on what we are endowed with locally.”
He highlighted that the rehabilitation of the Harare-Beitbridge highway under the leadership of President Mnangagwa has set the precedence that infrastructural development can be rehabilitated using internal resources.
The rehabilitation of the Harare-Masvingo-Beitbridge highway is nearing completion and upon completion of the project, work on the upgrade of the 342 km Harare-Chirundu highway, the northern corridor would begin in earnest.
The Harare-Chirundu highway is the northern leg of the main north-south corridor and helps Zimbabwe to connect with Zambia, the Democratic Republic of Congo, and Tanzania
Most of the highways need rehabilitation, with the Karoi-Kariba stretch having bad patches characterised by potholes and eroding edges that make it difficult for motorists to manoeuvre.
Only the stretch from Chirundu up the escarpment is considered to be in good condition after the recent work partly financed by Japanese support.
“If we continue to look for foreign solutions as far as our road is concerned, we could have not moved much as we have moved so far.
“Look at what we have done under the leadership of our President, the Harare-Masvingo-Beitbridge road, and the Beitbridge Border Post, it’s one of the best in southern Africa using our local and regional resources so we are saying to rehabilitate and recapitalise NRZ, we need to start by looking at what we have in the country in terms of skills to construct our rail, we have it.
“Then the gaps must be filled by our regional colleagues and before we go international, so it’s supposed to be a complementary approach. We don’t have to fold our hands and say the railways are constrained,” he said, adding that the Treasury is under pressure and for the nation to think that NRZ can be rehabilitated and recapitalised by sourcing resources from the Treasury alone, would be a misnomer.
In this context, it is imperative to ensure the private sector is involved in unlocking NRZ’s potential and restoring it to its former glory.
“Yes, the railway network is a sovereign asset; it is the responsibility of Government to make sure that the environment or the enablers are in place to make sure that industry, mining and agriculture is facilitated, but here we are saying ‘Nyika inovakwa nevene vayo/Ilizwe lakhiwa ngabanikhazi balo’.
“Hence it’s not only the responsibility of the Government alone. We need private sector participation and I can tell you the appetite is there and abundant. The few weeks I have been given this responsibility, the appetite which the private sector (local, regional and international) have shown is unprecedented.
“What is important is to think outside the box, we need to be innovative and make sure that we come up with business models in which the private sector is comfortable to participate, there is no doubt that the business is out there,” said Mr Madiro.
Meanwhile, discussions with all foreign investors NRZ has engaged over locomotives, wagons, and passenger coaches remain on course amid high expectations that the entity modernises its services and operations.
It is against this background that NRZ recently engaged investors that include those from Türkiye, where a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) was signed in 2021 with a company called Yapi Merkezi for possible investment in the modernisation of the NRZ rail system to world standards.
Under the MoU, the Turkish firm is expected to bankroll the project and provide expertise for repairing rail tracks across the country while also financing the acquisition of new coaches and wagons.
In yet another effort to revamp NRZ, the Government and India in June this year penned a US$81,2 million deal in terms of which the Asian company’s RITES Limited, will supply the local railways firm with rolling stock comprising 3 000 horsepower diesel-electric locomotives and high-sided open wagons.
Under the agreement, the African Export and Import Bank (AfreximBank) is expected to pay the first instalment to RITES Limited before delivery of the first batch of rolling stock is made.
RITES Limited is a multi-disciplinary consultancy organisation in the field of transport infrastructure, and engineering, only to mention a few.
The company has been in existence for 47 years and has tackled projects in over 50 countries across different continents which include Asia, Africa, Latin America, South America and the Middle East region.
“At the moment, it’s shameful to mention how many locomotives we have, and in terms of the wagons it’s like a graveyard in our workshops, therefore, we need to address the issue of rolling stock. When the tracks are done we now need the trains to move and do the work and get the load.
“So, as NRZ we need to address the issue of rolling stock so that we have enough capacity to carry the load. As I have already said, that is where there is a real scope for the private sector to participate. We need to come up with business models which ensure participation of the private sector,” he added.
Source Zimbabwe Situation
