TAZARA EYES 350, 000MT OF FREIGHT TRAFFIC
AN annual budget of 350, 000 metric tonnes of freight traffic has been proposed by the Tanzania-Zambia Railway Authority ( TAZARA) Board of Directors.
The board has also proposed to carry 3, 480, 000 passengers for the financial year 2023/2024.
Through the proposed undertaking, a total income of US$52.40 million is projected to be generated from various activities, broken-down into US$28.43 million from freight, parcels, and passenger traffic.
According to a statement on the occasion of the 119th meeting of the TAZARA Board of Directors on Sunday, US$12.47 million will be generated from shareholder subventions and US$11.50 million from other sources, including Open Access fees.
“The Board observed the liquidity and operational challenges faced by TAZARA especially in the aftermath of the closure of the Chambeshi Bridge in Zambia, from October 2021 to September 2022, and therefore, approved management’s proposed survival plan with a financial outlay of US$9.04 million.
“This is envisaged to stabilise the authority’s operations in the next two years, while a long-term investment plan is being pursued,” the statement read.
On the engagement of Chinese investors, the board reviewed the progress made in the process of inviting investors from China as agreed by the Tanzanian and Zambian heads of State at their meeting in Dar es Salaam, in August 2022.
It stated that the engagement was also guided by the TAZARA Council of Ministers at a meeting held in Lusaka on March14, 2022 and observed that so far the two countries’ technical committees had concluded their position papers and made recommendations for consideration by their steering committees of the respective countries.
The board says after merging the countries’ positions, tripartite meetings with the Chinese investors will then follow.
It also commended management for successfully engaging a second Open Access private operator, Africa Inland Container Depot.
This development is expected to increase the volume of traffic moved on the TAZARA line and revenue earnings to the authority and benefit the Tanzanian and Zambian economies at large by reducing congestions on roads and injecting efficiencies in the movement of goods on the Dar es Salaam corridor.