18 Jul 2019

 Botswana Railways chief executive officer Mr Leonard Makwinja has said the company’s revenue for the past three years has often been characterised by fluctuating revenue incomes owing mainly to challenges in maintaining rolling stock, a decrease in freight volumes and a shortage of locomotives.

 Addressing the media in Gaborone recently, Mr Makwinja 

said due to the railway company’s diversification efforts, the it was partially self-sustaining though there were fluctuations in financial performance. 

He outlined strategies and business performance of the enterprise for 2018-19 financial year.

He said the company made over P3 million for the year under review which substantially increased asset value for the company.

He said due to expansions and discoveries in mining operations around the country, their growth projections predicted increases in tonnage on the railway and revealed however that some of the investment through BR Properties had not performed as expected as they were capital intensive to transact. 

He was however optimistic about proposed projects to be developed in Francistown.

Mr Makwinja indicated that Botswana railways had received over P500 million in grants from government over the last seven years which was not enough to maintain the railway business but indicated that they were embarking on a marketing strategy that would move freight from the road to the railway line.

“We have lost the fuel business partly due to fuel loss on tankers in exchange routes, where there is tampering on the tankers, but this is one of the markets we are trying to recapture,” he said He noted that BR was currently working on a procurement of 24 locomotives from China which would reduce dependence on Transnet.

Furthermore, Mr Makwinja added that key focus would be to drive priority projects such as cost containment, inter-regional relationships with rail companies and the implementation of proposed railway lines, adding that Mosetse-Kazungula and Mamabula-Lephalale railway lines were still being evaluated to determine the best funding model.

He indicated that the Mamabula-Lephalale railway line will be a triple partnership between Botswana railways, government and the private sector in a bid to optimise costs and maximise success. 

“The Mosetse-Kazungula line is important to us as it is a key strategy to recapture road to railway freight volumes,” he added.

He further said the railway line would reduce the stress put on roads by import and export haulage trucks while at the same time increasing the movement of produce from the agriculturally rich Pandamatenga region.  ENDS