THE consultants working on a feasibility study for the 1500km Trans-Kalahari Railway project, which aims to connect Gaborone in Botswana with Walvis Bay in Namibia, have submitted the Inception Report for the 12-month study, which commenced in April.
A consortium of CPCS Transcom UK working alongside Zutari, Botswana, and Bowmans Namibia, is conducting the feasibility study. The report will be discussed at the next joint ministerial meeting between Namibia and Botswana, scheduled for August. The governments are hoping to start construction on the project in 2027.
The line is predominately intended to transport coal from the Mmamabula coal fields in Botswana to the port of Walvis Bay in Namibia. The plan is to export around 90 million tonnes of coal each year from Botswana to India and China.
The project, first proposed in 2010 and revived in 2023, will require construction of a new line in Botswana to the existing railhead at Gobabis, Namibia. It will also involve rehabilitating the existing TransNamib line from Gobabis, via the capital Windhoek, to Walvis Bay.
According to local media reports, Botswana is proposing to expand the scope of the study to consider a Trans-Kalahari Development Corridor, with transport minister, Noah Salakae, suggesting the project should adopt a public-private partnership (PPP) model.
“Trans-Kalahari Railway as a standalone railway simply cannot generate enough revenue from transport economics alone to justify its staggering $US 16bn cost,” he says, as quoted by the Windhoek Observer.
“The TKDC envisions much more than rails. It is a spine for economic transformation, encompassing logistics hubs, industrial clusters, energy infrastructure, trade zones, housing, tourism nodes, and green towns that bring opportunity and prosperity to people along its path.”
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