THE European Union (EU) has signed an agreement to provide a €50m grant to Zambia Railways (ZRL) to fund track renewals and signalling upgrades on key sections of its network, with work expected to focus on the Livingstone - Ndola main line.
The agreement was signed by the EU commissioner for international partnerships, Jozef Sikela, Zambia’s minister of transport and logistics, Frank Tayali, and ZRL managing director, Cuthbert Malindi.
Also present during the ceremony, which took place during the official opening of the EU-Zambia Lobito Corridor Business Forum in Chongwe on November 13, were the president of Zambia, Hakainde Hichilema, European Investment Bank (EIB) vice-president, Karl Nehammer, and EU ambassador to Zambia, Karolina Stasiak.
In addition to infrastructure upgrades to accelerate freight services, ZRL says that the EU grant will also fund work to reform Zambia’s rail sector in order to improve its competitive position and transparency, introducing an open-access regime for private operators.
Improving the performance of the national railway network is expected to lower transport costs, reduce congestion, and cut CO2 emissions. At the same time, it will support Zambian government development targets, which include increasing copper production to 3 million tonnes a year.
The Ministry of Transport and Logistics says that an efficient ZRL network will strengthen Zambia’s role as a central link in the Lobito Corridor, supporting the mining industry and opening new opportunities in agriculture and logistics.
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