Activity abound in Africa! There is a lot happening out there – and we were pleased to see this project being announced recently: A brand new railway line between Zambia and Mozambique! It is being promoted by USA-based Railnet International, through what appears to be a special purpose investment vehicle, Magcor International.
The scheme itself is very exciting, and from the announcements, this is what we have been able to learn about the project:
- Start: Copperbelt Province in Zambia’s industrial heartland. Likely to start in the copper mining centres of Chingola or Kitwe.
- End: the port city of Beira in Mozambique, which act as a key access point to the Indian Ocean for the landlocked countries of Zambia, Zimbabwe and Malawi.
- Length: ~2100km. According the company’s announcement, it will be built parallel to the existing line.
- Travelling speed: 120km/h for freight trains and 160km/h for passenger trains.
The exciting news for us Capiro! (Cape to Cairo!) fans is that approximately 1000km of this new line will be along a vital link of the Cape to Cairo link. The total distance of Capiro! is approximately 9800km (depending on route), which means this project could create approximately 10% of the line infrastructure.
Overall we are pretty excited about this prospect. At the time of the announcement – just as Covid-19 has shutting down global activity – the stated ambition was commencement of construction in January 2021. This now seems ambitious. In addition, it is not clear what the track gauge (width) will be – which is one of the major stumbling blocks for the Capiro! ambition. But for the speeds required, it would be reasonable to assume standard 1.435m gauge. There are many different gauges in use across Africa, which means that you would have to change trains many time on your way from Cape Town to Cairo.
At the time of writing, neither the cost nor the identities of the investment firms have been identified. However, we estimate the cost around US$15Bn for a standard gauge railway. A major undertaking that could potentially bring much needed modern infrastructure to the region. We will keep a keen Capiro! eye on the project!