The main conclusions from this review are: From the experience after twenty years of railways reforms in Africa, ten major lessons have been selected which have been grouped in three areas of improvement: These lessons have implications at national level as well as at the level of multilateral financial institutions, particularly the AFDB which aims to become a key player in infrastructure finance in the continent, especially after the introduction of the Africa50 fund. Railway financing should prioritise projects that focus on identified markets generating high volumes, Freight railway projects should take into account the whole logistics chain, A new approach to passenger services is required, A systematic approach to maintenance is mandatory as the cornerstone of railway performance, Larger financial packages and long-term involvement are required for railway projects, Railways’ economic, social and environmental contributions should be monetised, Novel approaches to railway concessions should be explored, Assessment, implementation and monitoring bodies with enhanced technical and business capabilities should be encouraged, Public railway bodies should be corporatized and professionalized, Larger railway markets in Africa should be promoted through increased cross-border cooperation. In too many cases the competitive/complementary aspects of road versus rail transport have not been adequately addressed. South Africa’s national railway luxury train is one of the oldest, derived from … “The development of our flagship project of the Agenda 2063, the high speed train project, is at the point of validating pilot projects on specific axes. Business, Company News, Mergers & Acquisitions Finance & Investment Freight & Logistics Local Manufacturing In Africa Passenger Rail & Public Transport Pit-to-Port Policy & Legislation Rolling Stock - Sub-Components & Assembly, Maintenance & Refurbishment Safety & Security Signalling & Communications Skills Development & Labour Technology Development Track - New, Maintenance & … This means that most African concessions are a hybrid that requires operators to be involved to a certain level in civil works activities. ‘Apart from technology and project solutions we are ready to provide financial tools’, he said. In 2007, the Ethiopian Railway Corporation (ERC) was created to oversee the construction of a new planned network spanning 5,000km. The Government of Ghana , through the ministry of railway development , having reviewed the Ghana railways master plan, has identified specific phases of the master plan as priority projects is from July 2016 to June 2020. This could suggest that this has been the mainstream wisdom so far. Unfortunately this process is hindered by a shortage of skills and familiarity with modern railways in many countries. On the contrary, what is required is a clear understanding of the fundamentals of the rail business and its financing and the making of sound and unbiased assessments, especially at the stage of project identification and preparation. Tracking 448 large-scale transport projects (road, rail and bridges) across Africa at all stages of development from announcement to execution with … The call was made to provide Africa with a “reliable, sustainable, high-performance, environmentally friendly, affordable rail system by 2040 that can, along with other modes of transport, promote the socio-economic development of and regional integration while contributing to a better global position for the continent. The Company brings unmatched capacity to the African railway sector, supporting development of new railway corridors, including the opportunity to … Railways Africa™ is the African continent’s specialist trade, technical, business-to-business publication, and online news service covering all aspects of the rail sector. Rail freight transportation is typically competitive in mid to long distance transportation, but usually loses its attractiveness in shorter journeys. Ethiopia has had perhaps one of the most ambitious railway development schemes in Africa, leveraging Chinese as well as other foreign finance for its railway network. Finally, some countries seem to have opted for public sector railways with no intention to privatise them in the short-medium term: Morocco, Botswana and Zambia; the last of these after a disappointing experience with concession. The Chinese-built and financed African Union Headquarters. UIC and its members work continuously to demonstrate how rail can be part of the solution to the challenge of sustainable development. A variety of schemes at regional level have been drawn up as well. The expected role of railways in the economic development of Saudi Arabia M. Aldagheiri Department of Geography, Qassim University, Saudi Arabia Abstract The national economic diversification is considered a strategic goal for the Saudi Arabian government in most economic sectors away from the oil sector (e.g. Projects are still progressing, those in planning and execution, albeit at a different pace, which can be excepted during this time. The Ghana Railway Development Authority is a statutory body established by the Railways Act, 2008 (Act 779) to ensure the development and modernization of the … In poor institutional environments, private operators may be more interested in courting regulators and politicians i.e. Africa will produce large volumes of goods such as bulk minerals and commodities that are natural markets for railways. Nevertheless in many countries railways are still struggling to transform themselves from subsidy-dependant legacy companies to more efficient commercial undertakings. AU Headquarters. The more interconnectivity, the more the need for consistent standards. Moscow, Russian Federation – 22 June 2019: African Union Commissioner for Infrastructure and Energy, H.E. Financial packages associated with these concessions have proved to be insufficient. This extensive network has the potential to offer safe, efficient, and environmentally friendly transport across the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region, connecting all major centres of population and economic activity with developing rural areas. These priority projects are the phase 2 of the master plan and some railway lines in phase 3 and phase 5 of the master plan. The strong synergies obtained seem to favour these approaches. This implies that well-funded and managed public railways may be a suitable option in some cases. • On 31 November 2011, an agreement was signed to build a new international railway connecting Côte d'Ivoire, Burkino Faso, Niger and Benin. The challenges of upgrading and expanding Africa’s transport network are manifold—but so are the rewards. A large variety of railway business models can be found worldwide with various levels of integration/separation of infrastructure and operations, and with more or less private participation. Taking over a substantial share of state railways legacy and passenger service obligations is highlighted as a cumbersome burden for these operators. Sustainable development is considered one of the main global challenges facing the world today and is an important aspect of transport development. Projects should be concentrated in segments where railway effectively brings higher efficiency and lower costs than other modes: moving high volumes of persons or goods over a given distance. The Afreximbank Annual Meetings inaugurated by H.E. Growing urbanisation and industrialization will pose new transportation challenges that railways are well suited to handle. One opinion concludes that the experience so far demonstrates that railways are a losing game. However, urban and suburban trains remain crucial to Buenos Aires mobility. Higher sensitivity towards environmental and safety issues will generate a fertile context so that railways get public attention and social support. Military domination: the line was built to exercise ‘effective control’ in the Scramble for Africa, or to dispatch troops for better control of the native population; 2. ‘Those include state guarantees, public-private partnerships and various types of … The following is a summary of how railways in South Africa developed, by discussing the different persons, companies and events that were instrumental in the creation of the system that is known today as Transnet. Most rail projects around the world require high levels of subsidisation in the construction and/or operational phases to be sustainable. Rail requires high volumes to be feasible, and it is a business of high volumes but low margins. Esther Azaa Tankou I Head of Information Division, Directorate of Information and Communication I African Union Commission I Tel. Media inquiry Contacts: Read Time: 1 min. While freight transport has burgeoned and proves to be profitable, long-distance passenger services have been discontinued as subsidies required were unsustainable. Mr. Dmitry Medvedev, Prime Minister of the Government of the Russian Federation was a crucial stage in preparation for the large-scale political “Russia – Africa” Summit, scheduled for October 2019 in Sochi. Partnerships between railways and logistics/transport operators have been successfully achieved in some of the leading railways in Europe and some examples already exist in Africa as well. RSA or Morocco) are public sector undertakings, which is not the mainstream pattern in the Americas or in Europe. Including appropriate stakeholders in the concessionaire’s shareholding improves project performance in the case of PPPs. Most countries have reached the conclusion that railway management and financing have to be reviewed but are still struggling to define the financial models, most notably how infrastructure maintenance should be managed and funded. He appointed a pan-African committee of experts to review and submit proposals for a system of governance for the AU that would ensure the organisation was better placed to address the challenges facing the continent with the aim of implementing programmes that have the highest impact on Africa’s growth and development so as to deliver on the vision of Agenda 2063. Blue Train, South Africa. the source of subsidies, than in really engaging in the improvement of safety and service standards to users, since fares are a minor part of the operator’s revenues. There is wide acceptance that PPPs should be explored to tap the huge amounts of funding that would be required but no new approaches have so far been identified. Some of them aim to address one of the issues, while others are rather more transversal and impact on various issues. Accordingly the areas deemed to be most appropriate to railway projects in Africa are: Railway policy makers may have to bear in mind that new railway projects in Africa will only be sustainable provided that they are compatible with their natural markets. In this context, I would like to appeal to all public and private partners to join us in implementing this ambitious and hopeful project in a win-win partnership,” said Dr. Abou-Zeid. Built on 23 years of history, Africa Rail is about investment, development and technology for rail operators, government, end-users, investors and all transport professionals. The AUR hopes to rectify things. REF: RA201918816. Railways may make a comeback on the continent as is happening elsewhere. Big and bureaucratic public railways may create highly professionalized spin-offs to provide flexible, credible and creditworthy instruments to deal with the private sector under a wide range of PPP deals. Pit-to-Port. One can conclude that most multilateral banks have a wide spectrum of products that can be useful to support railways development, from risk management products to loans, form multilateral guarantees to political risk insurance. With all new or even some of the older railway projects launched and inaugurated, South Africa emerges as an efficient and secure rail transport market. This network was seen as part of a wider industrialization and export-oriented growth … The approval of a legal framework that neatly separates infrastructure, operation and regulations as is the case in the EU can be circumvented by Government and railway incumbents unless there is a clear political will to push forward with liberalization and integration of national networks. Topics. Minerals, Agriculture, and Manufacturing). P.O. With limited budgets, colonisers expected the railroads to pay for them… The competitive environment between railway and road transport modes has not been adequately addressed in most cases, either at planning stage, at implementation or at enforcement level. An Integrated, Prosperous and Peaceful Africa, driven by its own citizens and representing a dynamic force in the global arena. Box 3243, Roosvelt Street W21K19 Dr Amani Abou-Zeid, attended the 26th Annual Meetings of the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) held in Moscow on 18-22 June 2019. It is worth noting that Russia is developing a number of projects in cooperation with Afreximbank, including financing of industrial infrastructure construction and modernization projects in Nigeria and Angola. Some impacts of High Speed Railway development in the Region (World Bank Beijing Office, How China builds high-speed rail for less, 09 October 2014) • Dramatic pace of HSR development in China over past decade: 10,000 route-km built with further 12,000 route km under construction • High density corridors, e.g. Countries that pioneered in railways concessions and where a longer perspective can be seen such as Argentina provide mixed results. In 2012, there seem to be a large number of railway projects about to get off the drawing board, some of which will connect railway systems in different countries. These eight countries are Botswana, Cameroon, Kenya, Madagascar, Morocco, Senegal, Tanzania and Zambia, which represent a wide variety of backgrounds and experiences in railways. individual governments), some are addressed to the IFIs that are most active in Africa infrastructure financing and most policy options have implications for both levels. The project comes in light of Chinese investment in a $13 billion East African railway network being built by the state-owned China Road and Bridge Corporation. The result has been neglected infrastructure, sometimes approaching a point of no return, and operations clearly below international standards. Furthermore, any new railway project should be framed under an overall vision of the needs of the whole transport sector. Public railways such as Transnet and PRASA in the RSA may provide acceptable to good service delivery and sound financial performance under adequate institutional arrangements, and be capable to experience with rather big PPP deals such as the Gautrain. But this will have to be sustained on a more solid technical, business, institutional and financial basis than in the past. 1845 - Cape of Good Hope Western Railway. Major shipping lanes pass along the South African coastline in the south Atlantic and Indian oceans. This fund can eventually sustain the issuance of bonds to finance railway projects. Africa rail industry news Latest railway industry news from Africa, including operations, infrastructure, rolling stock and policy. The Gautrain project in South Africa provides a good example of a greenfield interurban rapid transit railway system; more recently a new light rail system has been inaugurated in Addis Ababa in Ethiopia, being the first project of its kind in sub-Saharan Africa, conceived with … SADC. Although it is a politically sensible issue, the use of a share of fuel taxes to fund railway infrastructure is possible in emerging countries as Poland’s experience shows. Thelo DB Proprietary Limited. 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