Govt’s big plans for a railway revolution

Mmegi: In recent months, we have the seen the Ministry push forward with railway projects towards the East and West, moving closer towards project development. What is the over-arching goal in securing the construction of these railways?

Molale: This is the second stage; first we did the roads, the ring around the country and exits, east, west north. We are now starting on the railways the goal being that the railways should complement the roads and both should support economic growth, speedy economic growth, not only of Botswana but of the region.

We are working very hard on the west, the Trans-Kalahari Railway (TKR), which previously was justified by moving of coal. We have since away from that and the justification becomes even more fertile for that railway, especially with the advent of the copper mines in the Gantsi, Maun area.

We are also looking to the east which is twofold. One is the Mmamabula-Lephalale which is short at 57 kilometres and we are on track with it. We now have to sign a bilateral agreement with South Africa on the modus operandi of the railroad construction and other things that are incidental to the actualisation of that.

But east is also is through Zimbabwe and we are targeting the port of Beira in Mozambique. That one is still on the slow side because Zimbabwe still has its own economic challenges. The infrastructure is there, but it’s weak and if we use it our trains have to move at not more than 50 kilometres per hour. We need to refurbish the rail line right up to Chicualacuala which is the border with Mozambique and we have actually agreed that our trains now can now ferry the cargo through Zimbabwe to Chicualacuala and hand over to the Mozambicans. So there is progress but very slow.

Then there is the north which is Mosetse–Kazungula–Livingstone. We have started work on it regarding the pre-project preparations aligning ourselves with the Zambians in as far as them agreeing to and seeing the urgency of the railroad. We have an association called the Southern African Railways Association which is also keen on that rail line.

So these are the three main corridors, east those two lines, north is the Mosetse Kazungula and then the TKR to the west. We are currently working on them but at different rates; we are focussing on the two which is the TKR and the Mmamabula-Lephalale one.

Mmegi: In the past month or so, we have been seeing a lot about the congestion and infrastructure breakdown within Transnet, within the port at Richards Bay and the fact that this is hurting the economy of South Africa. This challenge is also expected to affect us because of the imports that strategically come through there. From your end as a Ministry, do you see those troubles as an opportunity or as a challenge?

Molale: In fact, we learnt during the US Africa Summit that the waiting period at SA ports to offload and load, the minimum is two weeks. They wait floating on the sea. So we see ourselves as best placed if we could open our corridors, especially for companies in the Witwatersrand region like Johannesburg and the Pretoria area of Gauteng. This is because for them, either way, going west or east, they cover the same distance. Some of them have even come to us especially car manufacturers who export to Europe and other destinations as well as those with other products that are destined for markets especially in the Middle East for fear of using the congested Suez Canal. They prefer using Namibia then going to the Mediterranean to the Middle East and so forth.

Mmegi: When ideally, would the Ministry like to see the TKR up and running? When you met last time in the bilateral, were there any timelines to say by this point we should have achieved this or be at this point?

Molale: Well, there were one or two timelines for Expressions of Interest which were met on time and then the Request for Proposals come. Once the proposals have been received, because we want to do it through private sector funding and there is a sign-off for that, then we will be able to give timelines including issues like citizen empowerment to say who has to do what to be part of the overall rail line construction.

The Namibians have the shorter part of the rail because the key thing that they have to do is refurbish the Gobabis-Windhoek line as it’s not in good shape. But that’s not like building a new rail line altogether. However, after that we will have to be looking at saying ‘when we buy rail wagons and related machinery, do we manufacture here or buy elsewhere and what are the value chains involved in that’.

So the timelines will be much clearer when the Requests for Proposals have been finalised and the bilateral agreements finally signed off. But the issue was that for all of this we are looking at by mid-2024, those things should have been achieved, which will then pave the way for the project to begin.

As many analysts say, apparently there is a lot of money out there in the world and unsolicited bids have been coming in. However both Namibia and Botswana are governments and we have to do it within our procurement laws as transparently as we can. There’s nothing wrong with such bids as long as ultimately you then say to them, ‘this is the process, let’s all go in’.

Mmegi: We also note that in these projects, government appears eager to have the private sector take the lead in both financing and development. Please explain government's general approach going forward in such projects?

Molale: Both our governments don’t have money, but the business has a very good payback and investors can be able to recoup their investment quickly because as I said earlier, there are other private sector players waiting to evacuate their products through that rail. So for us, through our TKR rail coordinating office, we are looking at all possibilities of Public Private Partnerships so that when we come to do the Requests for Proposals, we will know the best option for both countries.

But the world is telling us that they are awash with money. The UAEs, the Qataris, the Chinese, the Indians have all come to say this is not a long line for them and comparatively it’s a very short line which they can do very quickly. They say they have built longer.

Mmegi: Please explain how these projects fit into the country's ambition of becoming the SADC region's preferred logistics hub and the greater goal of creating linkages between SADC and countries north of the region?

Molale: The key thing for us to be competitive is our productivity. That will be the key determiner. The location is already given and the infrastructure as well, provided it’s something that can be done quickly like we did with the Trans Kalahari. That bridge was a masterstroke in as far as opening up the African hinterland and it made a whole lot of difference.

So when this infrastructure is done, it is our productivity factor where we should be able to beat the market. This TKR corridor, when someone loads in Johannesburg at 6pm, they should be able to reach Walvis Bay at 12 noon the following day, which would be unprecedented in evacuating goods. Everyone will have a win-win situation; profitability, income generation, employment, so many things that come into play.

So I think we are best placed to be at the centre of the logistics business of SADC.

Mmegi: To be clear, you’re saying over and above putting in place world class infrastructure, where Botswana can be competitive is in the productivity. Not just the infrastructure, but the processes count more?

Molale: The processes, the speed, efficiencies, all these things and others. My strategic imperatives for the ministry are quality infrastructure, safety and a high performance culture. They are just three and they are inter-related. So if we build high quality infrastructure, but the goods are not safe, the routes are not safe, we defeat the purpose. If our performance does not embrace a high performance culture, again we lose. So quality infrastructure alone is not the answer. All the three factors come into play.

Mmegi: Are these two railway projects (Mmamabula-Lephalale/TKR) the last railway lines Batswana should expect to be developed in the country or does government have plans to further expand this network within the country?

Molale: There are prospects. First we want to replicate what we did with the roads, as you see we are talking about the Trans-Kalahari Highway, talking also about what they want us to call the Trans-Zambezi Bridge (Kazungula Bridge) and the East.

Now for us to achieve that, we did a ring around the country where you can drive from Gaborone, Francistown, Maun, Gantsi and back to Gaborone. That’s what we want to do with the railways.

There is prospecting for iron ore despite the problems that we hear around it, in Shakawe and there’s prospecting for oil in the same area. There’s the discussions which President (Mokgweetsi) Masisi had with President (Joao) Lourenco on the possibility of us buying petroleum products as an alternative source from Angola. You need to have a real train that will move from Rundu (Namibia/Angola border town), to Shakawe to Maun and the rest of the market. That’s another thing we are looking at; it’s not an immediate plan but it’s in the future. We need to build confidence that that’s a prospective route given the products that will be conveyed.

We are also talking of tourism routes. You saw when the Blue Train went to Sowa that the uptake was marvellous and just imagine when we leave here to Shakawe by train next to the Okavango Delta. That will be something to write home about.

So the plan is that we replicate the road system and have a rail system that forms a loop around the country, with spurs to Mohembo and others. We have not talked much Kgalagadi especially Southern Kgalagadi with regards to the rail, but if prospects become fertile for that, we will start talking. The other ones we are talking but we have not firmed up a position on whether we will go ahead or not.

Mmegi: There is some concern that private investor interest in developing these railway lines, particularly the Mmamabula-Lephalale line, could be dampened by the fact that coal is likely to be a dominant commodity shipped on the lines and global financiers are not eager to associate with coal. Do you see this as a risk at all to securing private sector investment in these projects?

Molale: Surprisingly, the interest is so high. Surprisingly the enthusiasm is amazing. That rail line is short so the shorter distance can absorb the risk. The other advantage is that SA has a lot of disused coal mines and therefore Botswana has an opportunity to supply coal to the existing power stations like Matimba, those in Mpumalanga and on the Vereeniging. There are number of power stations and if you fly over that area, you’ll see many of them, but the supply of coal is limited. So short term, short rail, there is a good prospect for a profitable payback, then thereafter we can use the rail line for other things.

Mmegi: We would not be forgiven by our readers if we end the interview without asking about the passenger railway. People want to hear about that and when someone mentions railways, they want to know if it will come back. Is it something you could think about privatising for someone else to run or is it something that the generation that comes after won’t believe ever existed? Will our children ever ride on a train?

Molale: I’m very optimistic that it will come back. The productivity factor I spoke about before is an albatross around our necks. This train was running before COVID and we stopped it for reasons of the pandemic. But we didn’t take care of it; we left it to be vandalised and all that and to put it back to use will require a lot of money.

We are looking at various prospects of resuscitating that line and as I said earlier, you just saw the pleasure train to Sowa. The uptake was unbelievable. Right now when the schools are closing like this, parents are forced to drive quickly to Francistown and drop kids there and come back to work. Previously they would put them on the train, first or second class, knowing they would be taken care of. Those things we miss them, including in my own family, we talk about it.

So there is this hunger, thirst for the return of the passenger train and we are working hard. We are allowing the Rovos tourist train to use our rail line – a tourist train from SA that does come here. They go to Vic Falls and from there it passes by Beitbridge and we can easily allow our own local enterprises to run a train like that. Why would it be easier to allow a foreign private rail company to traverse our country and then make it difficult for our own people? There’s a high probability and possibility that ultimately, we will go for that.

I also believe that the money is there, the pension funds are there and children when they go for sports, they must use this. Teachers, unions, church groups etc, there’s so much business. So allowing the private sector to run on our rail is a high possibility.

Again, we are looking at, despite our small railway company, we are looking at the possibility of privatisation such that we divide it into three; the line, the running stock and the business along the rail like the railways are building malls and other things. They can equally build points of interest and other things along the rail line. There’s potential!