17 Aug 2025

As plans are underway to construct the Trans Kalahari Railway line (TKR), Minister of Roads and Infrastructure, Mr Noah Salake has underscored the need to recognise the natural synergies between the proposed project and the existing Trans Kalahari Corridor (TKC), linking South Africa, Botswana and Namibia.

Mr Salakae said both corridors (TKR and TKC) shared a strategic objective of connecting the concerned countries to global markets through fast, efficient and reliable transport.

Speaking at the special joint ministerial meeting in Maun on August 15 to appreciate progress on the envisaged TKR, Mr Salakae said aligning the two projects would create a fully integrated multi-modal corridor that combined rail, road and border infrastructure offering traders and investors a seamless logistics platform.

“Merging our planning and governance structures will avoid duplication, optimise resources and strengthen our case for international financing. Together, the railway and the road can form a single economic spine across Southern Africa, multiplying the benefits for every community along the route,” he added.

Mr Salakae further described the project as an ambitious undertaking that would link Namibia and Botswana, and by extension, connect their economies more firmly into the continental and global trade system.

He said  TKR was highly important, therefore potential chances of failure must never see the light of the day.

Mr Salakae said it was more than a railway line, as it promised faster, more efficient trade, new jobs and new skills.

He added that the project promisesd to advance goals of economic diversification, poverty reduction and inclusive growth.

“The feasibility study must therefore look beyond engineering drawings and cargo forecasts. It must integrate spatial planning, development policy, and investment attraction strategies so that every kilometre of track contributes to the long-term prosperity of our nations,” said Mr Salakae.

Meanwhile, his counterpart, the Minister of Works and Transport from Namibia, Mr Veikko Nekundi also said the TKR was an initiative of strategic value to both Botswana and Namibia as well as the SADC region.

Mr Nekundi said the two countries were building more than just an infrastructure project but a legacy of cooperation, mutual benefit and regional integration as envisioned by their  founding fathers the SADC protocols and the African Continental Free Trade Area.

In appreciating the feasibility study report, he said, ‘feasibility study, to my understanding, means the evaluation and analysis of the potential of a project which aims at supporting the process of decision-making by objectively and rationally uncovering its strengths and weaknesses, opportunities and threats, as well as identifying the resources required to carry it through and ultimately its prospects for success'. ENDS