The Sunday News
Rutendo Nyeve, Sunday News Reporter
THE National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) has expressed confidence that it will surpass its set target of moving three million tonnes of cargo this year by banking on a plethora of initiatives that have been put in place to revamp operations.
In an interview, NRZ General Manager Ms Respina Zinyanduko said the entity would see a revamping of operations following engagement with various partners that include India.“In 2023 we expect to move about three million tonnes and we are very confident that we will meet our target and even exceed it because of the initiatives that we are putting in place.
“We have covered quite a lot. As you may be aware we are in the market and when you are in the market, you look at several options, some materialise while some don’t because the requirements proved to be beyond our reach.
National Railways of Zimbabwe
“So, basically now, we are zeroing in on India where we are expecting to buy locomotives, wagons and Diesel Multiple Units (DMUs). The negotiations and agreements are already in place, what is left is confirmation of funding from Treasury. They have advised that they will do it anytime from now and once that is done, we are good to go. In the meantime, we are working on the short-term plan of procurement of locomotives, wagons and DMUs.”
The entity has also engaged in Public-Private Partnerships (PPPs) for the refurbishment of locomotives and wagons to improve its capacity.
“We are also looking at PPPs where partners will repair some of our wagons. With PPPs we engage our bigger customers who require more capacity and we have an arrangement where they will buy locomotive spares for refurbishment then we dedicate that capacity to their cargo,” said Ms Zinyanduko.
She said the company has a running contract with one of its biggest customers who are refurbishing two locomotives and 100 wagons while the other one was at signing stage and would see the refurbishment of three locomotives and three hundred wagons. That, she said, was expected to assist in terms of improving capacity.
“The manufacturing of a locomotive takes between 18 and 24 months, so whilst we are waiting for deliveries, we still need to move cargo. So, these PPPs will help us in generating the much-needed capacity,” said Ms Zinyanduko.
The national railway company has customers in the mining, agriculture and manufacturing sectors. Some of them are interlinked with an example of coal which comes from the mines but it then goes into electricity generation, agriculture and others.
Meanwhile, the company has not been spared from brain drain while dysfunctional infrastructure remains one of the challenges it faces. However, Ms Zinyanduko said mitigatory measures have been put in place to curb the challenges.
“Our infrastructure really needs attention. On the issue of skills flight, given our operational challenges we cannot take the issue of competing in terms of remuneration with the private sector as an option.
“What we have done is we are looking at non-monetary incentives among them housing and other incentives. We are also looking at apprenticeship where we are going to train more artisans and right now as an organisation we are fully prepared for some of these challenges in terms of filling the gaps,” said Ms Zinyanduko.
At its peak in the late 1990s, NRZ moved 18 million tonnes of cargo annually. @nyeve14
