The Sunday News
Gabriel Masvora Business Editor
SOUTH African integrated logistics service provider Grindrod Limited, through its subsidiary New Limpopo Project Investments has snapped an 85 percent stake in Bulawayo-Beitbridge Railways (BBR) and immediately availed $2 million that will go towards refurbishment of old locomotives in Bulawayo. Grindrod holds a controlling stake in Mauritius registered as NLPI which now owns BBR.
Other NLPI shareholders include South African companies Nedbank, Old Mutual, Sanlam and New Limpopo Bridge Projects — an investment company controlled by Israeli citizens Mordechai Tager and Zion Elani.
In an emailed response sent from Durban, South Africa, Grindrod Limited group public relations and marketing manager Mr Alison Briggs said the company has already set in motion a massive plan by deploying new locomotives on the corridor and investing in rehabilitation and maintenance of the track.
“We have also been able to create some employment opportunities in Bulawayo where we are busy with a $2 million programme to rebuild some of the older locomotives in Bulawayo,” he said although he could not reveal the value of the transaction.
He said some of the refurbished old locomotives will be for use on the private railway line between Beitbridge and Bulawayo while some will be available for sale to other railway operators in the region.
“This is the first time in many years that locomotives are being rebuilt in Zimbabwe, in the process boosting job creation and up-skilling Zimbabweans.”
He said the rebuilt locomotives will be as good as new, and each one will boast a live satellite-tracking system which integrates with an Enterprise Resource Plan database containing information on cargos.
“This online platform is accessible from anywhere in the world by mobile phone or PC and gives the user a view of where all the locomotives are positioned. Further, a new wireless radio system has been introduced which feeds important technical information to the control room.”
He said the new radios can transmit and receive up to 100 times the volume of traffic than the old microwave system radios could handle without compromising quality. “The cost of the wireless network is a fraction of microwave technology and because the 5.6 GHz frequency is a regulated band, interference from competing devices is limited. The system can accept and carry any traffic from a range of devices that are network enabled.”
Apart from the refurbishment programme, the company, said Mr Briggs, has deployed four new locomotives which are already hauling cargo between Beitbridge and Victoria Falls.
“BBR, the company that built and operates the 350 kilometres railway line, has also introduced brand new diesel-electric 3 000 nHP locomotives to haul cargo to and from Beitbridge and Victoria Falls. The new locos also come with hi-tech computer systems and satellite tracking, contributing to greater efficiency and better fuel consumption,” he said.
To reflect the new shareholding structure, Grindrod has appointed Mr Don McDevitt as the new chief executive officer for BBR with effect from 1 August replacing Mr Avi Yakobocih.
BBR was formed during 1997 as a partnership with National Railways of Zimbabwe to manage a rail concession between Beitbridge and Bulawayo. The concession included a Build-Operate-Transfer arrangement to construct 150 kilometres of new track and upgrade 172 kilometres existing track.
The track forms part of the north-south corridor which links the ports of Durban and Richards Bay to the Copperbelt in northern Zambia and southern Democratic Republic of Congo.
The track shortened the distance between Bulawayo and South Africa to 317 kilometres prior to its inauguration, rail service between South Africa and Bulawayo used a route through Botswana that is about 200 kilometres longer. The project will be handed over to NRZ at no cost in 2029.
The most common cargoes on the line are fertiliser, sulphur, fuel, maize, wheat, sugar, copper and copper concentrate, as well as clinkers for cement. The trains also carry containers for export and import.
Mr Briggs added the company’s objective was to significantly increase the total tonnage carried on the BBR railway line as part of broader ambitions for the North South Rail Corridor and as a result the company is putting in place the operational capacity, human resources, infrastructure and systems to support those objectives.
Grindrod Limited is the holding company of a dynamic organisation listed on the JSE securities exchange with more than 100 years experience in South Africa’s freight movement and related industries.
Its business is mostly about moving cargo by road, rail, sea and air and providing integrated logistical and specialised services.
It is a global business represented in more than 37 countries and is uniquely positioned to service Africa trade flow.
Economists said the coming in of the South African conglomerate would be relief to those railing cargo from the southern corridor to South Africa but added this could effectively put a nail on National Railways of Zimbabwe business which has been going down.
Although the Bulawayo–Beitbridge line has been in the hands of BBR, it used to be a cash cow for NRZ especially because of the availability of coal in Matabeleland South which the parastatal was hauling to different markets both locally and internationally.
Transport and Infrastructure Development Minister Obert Mpofu said he could not comment last week as he was in China but his secretary Mr Munesu Munodawafa recently told participants at Mine Entra in Bulawayo that Government has secured a $460 million loan from the Development Bank of Southern Africa to revive operations of NRZ.
