Source: The Herald – Breaking news.
Sikhulekelani Moyo
Business Reporter
THE National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) is in the process of setting up a US$2,4 million concrete manufacturing plant, and is seeking investors and partnerships for the project.
NRZ chief strategy and planning manager, Mr Jacob Chionyere, said this during the Bulawayo Investment Indaba held recently, where NRZ appealed to investors to consider participating in the project.
“This project, which we are going to embark on as NRZ is going to assist us in covering our existing and proposed rail routes that are being operated by NRZ and those that have the potential for our investors to come to join hands with us in operationalising them creating a demand for concrete sleepers,” said Mr Chionyere.
“The project is set to produce pre-stressed monolithic concrete sleepers and rail products and this factory is expected to have a capacity of about 60 000 sleepers annually.
“The project is expected to generate a revenue of about US$4,6 million and a payback period of within six months.”
Mr Chionyere said the market for the products is available, with NRZ set to consume about 60 percent of the 60 000 sleepers.
The national railway operator is among nearly 30 State-owned companies whose assets were transferred to capitalise the Mutapa Investment Fund. NRZ has been struggling with declining revenue due to a significant drop in business volumes, from 12 million tonnes annually in the 1990s to current levels of 2,3 million tonnes.
The decline is largely attributed to outdated infrastructure and a deteriorating fleet.
Zimbabwe’s rail network is not only hindering NRZ’s operations but is also posing a significant challenge to businesses across the country.
The inefficiencies of the Zimbabwean railway system are also creating a ripple effect, placing significant strain on the country’s road network.
With a decline in freight being transported by rail, there is a corresponding rise in heavy goods vehicles using roads.
The increased traffic load can lead to premature road degradation, requiring more frequent and expensive repairs.
The compromised state of roads not only increases transportation costs for businesses but also disrupts travel and commerce, hindering overall economic activity.
Mr Chionyere said establishing the sleeper plant would help reduce costs for the entity, as most of the sleepers were currently being imported.
He said local suppliers were demanding payment in hard currency.
“If we have our plant, we can take advantage of our Nalatale quarter plant that we are running to produce query aggregation to supply the production of content sleepers.
“From the 60 000 we are assuming to be producing, NRZ will take about 60 percent and the balance will be supplied to other rail entities around us,” he said.
He said having their own plant would also help to improve the quality of the sleepers as they would be working with their own engineers according to their specifications.
The plant would require about US$2,4 million, with some of the requirements done internally.
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