KENYA's TransCentury has sold its 34% stake in Rift Valley Railways (RVR) to Egyptian private equity firm Citadel Capital for an undisclosed sum.

THE GOVERNMENTS of Botswana and Namibia have signed an agreement to build the Trans-Kalahari Railway (TKR), a 1500km heavy-haul line linking Botswana's coalfields with the existing railhead at Gobabis in Namibia.

CONSTRUCTION is expected to begin on April 7 in Niamey, the capital of Niger, on a 1050km railway link with Benin's capital Cotonou.

ZAMBIA Railways Limited (ZRL) has selected a consortium of Bombardier, Huawei and local contractor GMC Technologies in a $US 51m contract to supply and install ERTMS Regional on the 980km Chingola - Livingstone line.

EGYPT is to revive plans for a high-speed line linking the Mediterranean coast with the country's far south, according to transport minister Mr Ibrahim El-Demeiry, who has described the project as "a top priority" for the interim government.

CNR, China, announced on March 17 that it has been awarded a contract to supply a fleet of 41 LRVs for the 37.4km light rail network which is currently under construction in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa.

TRANSNET celebrated its biggest-ever locomotive order on March 17, when it signed contracts worth Rand 50bn ($US 4.7bn) with four international suppliers for a total of 1064 locomotives for its Transnet Freight Rail (TFR) subsidiary.

EGYPT's National Authority for Tunnels (NAT) has published a tender notice for a contract to supply and maintain 20 new nine-car trains for Cairo metro Line 1.

THE Nigerian government has allocated $US 60m to the $US 823m project currently underway to build the first phase of the Abuja Rail Mass Transit Project, a 45km standard-gauge commuter rail line being built by China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC).

CONGO National Railways (SNCC) has awarded a contract to China CNR Corportation for the supply of 18 diesel-electric locomotives.