Customize Consent Preferences

We use cookies to help you navigate efficiently and perform certain functions. You will find detailed information about all cookies under each consent category below.

The cookies that are categorized as "Necessary" are stored on your browser as they are essential for enabling the basic functionalities of the site. ... 

Always Active

Necessary cookies are required to enable the basic features of this site, such as providing secure log-in or adjusting your consent preferences. These cookies do not store any personally identifiable data.

No cookies to display.

Functional cookies help perform certain functionalities like sharing the content of the website on social media platforms, collecting feedback, and other third-party features.

No cookies to display.

Analytical cookies are used to understand how visitors interact with the website. These cookies help provide information on metrics such as the number of visitors, bounce rate, traffic source, etc.

No cookies to display.

Performance cookies are used to understand and analyze the key performance indexes of the website which helps in delivering a better user experience for the visitors.

No cookies to display.

Advertisement cookies are used to provide visitors with customized advertisements based on the pages you visited previously and to analyze the effectiveness of the ad campaigns.

No cookies to display.

Study shows viability of railway line to Katima

Home Business Study shows viability of railway line to Katima
Study shows viability of railway line to Katima

The Final Feasibility Study (FFS) for the Trans-Zambezi Railway Extension from Grootfontein to Rundu and Katima Mulilo, which was commissioned by the works and transport ministry, has been completed. 

The key finding of the study is that the proposed 772km new railway line is viable from a technical, environmental, legal, financial, and economic standpoint and should be constructed. 

The study investigated the construction of the Trans-Zambezi Railway extension from Grootfontein to Katima Mulilo via Rundu, which will form part of a multinational railway line between Namibia and Zambia via the Zambezi region. 

The FFS was conducted by Canadian-based MR Technofin Consultants Ltd and co-funded by Namibia and the African Development Bank. The FFS has since been submitted to the work ministry.  

The cross-border rail project aims to link new mines and mining activities, particularly from neighbouring countries, to the railway network along the Walvis Bay – Ndola – Lubumbashi Development Corridor to enable transportation of products from the mineral rich Copperbelt area in Zambia to Walvis Bay. 

In this regard, the corridor is perfectly positioned to service trade between the SADC region and Europe, North and South America and emerging markets in the East, for a regional context to this crucial transport corridor.

Meanwhile, Botswana-based mining outfit Tsodilo Resources Limited called the proposed rail extension “an important development”.

It opens up a proximate rail transportation system for the delivery of Tsodilo’s Xaudum Iron Formation project’s potential iron products, such as iron concentrate, iron pellets, potential direct reduced iron (DRI) products, and ferrosilicon throughout central, eastern and southern Africa as well as international markets.  

“We are encouraged by the study’s findings set forth in the report as the key conclusion of the assignment is that the proposed 772km Greenfield line is viable and should move forward,” stated Tsodilo’s chairman and CEO James Bruchs.

Furthermore, Tsodilo hailed the proposed rail extension between Grootfontein and Katima Mulilo as significant, considering that the extension is planned to pass through Divundu which is a mere 35 kilometres from the company’s licence location in northern Botswana. Tsodilo is an international diamond and metals exploration company engaged in the search for mineral deposits in Botswana.

Photo: Study

Caption: Viable project…A technical drawing of the proposed railway extension from Grootfontein via Rundu to Katima Mulilo. Photo: Contributed