16 Jun 2022

 Botswana Railways (BR) has been extolled for positioning itself as a key player in the realisation of the country’s transformation to an export-led economy.

Speaking during the send-off of a forty-wagon coal train from Medie based Minergy Coal Mine to Mozambique, permanent secretary in the Ministry of Transport and Public Works, Mr Kgomotso Abi also commended BR for its contribution towards the exportation of Botswana’s products and offering a genuine pit-to-port solution.

 “I wish to commend BR for having seized an opportunity to position themselves as a strategic enabler for coal haulage and other commodities to overseas markets by providing a logistics solution connecting the mines and the ports,” he said.

He implored BR to be aggressive in its marketing and sales endeavours and to take advantage of the rising demand for coal and other commodities in the international markets, adding that this could be a sustainable revenue stream for BR to rely on.

 Mr Abi said the success of coal exportation by train was a clear testimony that the Limpopo route could become an alternative to the mainline Mafikeng-Ramokgwebana route since it had proved that it could handle bulk freight such as coal and iron ore with a capacity of 4.2 million tonnes per annum.

He applauded the investors of Minergy coal for bringing into production another coal mine in Botswana, saying it had not only contributed to the foreign direct investment but had also created the much needed jobs and other revenue stream for the country’s economy.

He said the exports placed Botswana coal in the global market and created a new pathway to earn foreign currency.

BR board chairperson, Mr Mmoloki Ramaeba said BR and its counterparts in Zimbabwe and Mozambique were cohesively working for the success of such exportations.

“The transportation of bulk commodities in these parts often presents higher revenues for the logistics company, making this significant deal for BR as it is for Minergy coal mine. We previously had a successful evacuation of coal from the Morupule mine a month ago, hence I am very optimist that our relationship with Minergy will have positive returns in investment for both entities,” he said.

Mr Ramaeba said coal exportation was expanding Botswana’s portfolio as a mining hub in Africa both in terms of job creation and diversification of revenue collection from diamonds and tourism. He said BR would strive to assist mining entities to realise their mandates and evacuate their products.

Mr Ramaeba said BR prided itself with quality rail infrastructure that stretched from Ramokgwebana to Ramatlabama.

The rail infrastructure capacity, he said, was close to over 4million metric tonnes a year, and currently only 1million metric tonnes was being utilised hence a gap of 3 million. Mr Ramaeba thus said there was need to lure in more clients for future use of the rail line. ENDS