Railway Systems of Zambia Limited (RSZ) was a private company incorporated and registered in

Zambia Zambia (), officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central, Southern and East Africa, although it is typically referred to as being in Southern Africa at its most central point. Its neighbours are t ...

which operates

Zambia Railways Zambia Railways (ZR) is the national railway company of Zambia, one of the two major railway organisations in Zambia. The other system is the binational TAZARA Railway (TAZARA) that interconnects with the ZR at Kapiri Mposhi and provides a link to ...

. It is a subsidiary of NLPI Ltd, an investment holding company, which main investment is focus on infrastructure-related projects within the continent of

Africa Africa is the world's second-largest and second-most populous continent, after Asia in both cases. At about 30.3 million km2 (11.7 million square miles) including adjacent islands, it covers 6% of Earth's total surface area ...

. The shareholders of NLPI are Nedbank Ltd,

Old Mutual Old Mutual Limited is a pan-African investment, savings, insurance, and banking group. It is listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange, the Namibian Stock Exchange and the Botswana Stock Exchange. It was founded ...

and

Sanlam Sanlam is a South African financial services group headquartered in Bellville, Western Cape, South Africa. Sanlam is the largest insurance company in Africa. It is listed on the Johannesburg Stock Exchange, the Namibian Stock Exchange and the ...

, all major

South Africa South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. It is bounded to the south by of coastline that stretch along the Atlantic Ocean, South Atlantic and Indian Oceans; to the ...

financial institution Financial institutions, sometimes called banking institutions, are business entities that provide services as intermediaries for different types of financial monetary transactions. Broadly speaking, there are three major types of financial inst ...

s, together with New Limpopo Bridge Projects Limited (NLP).

Zambia railways concession

The NLPI Consortium participated in a tender, administered by the

World Bank The World Bank is an international financial institution that provides loans and grants to the governments of low- and middle-income countries for the purpose of pursuing capital projects. The World Bank is the collective name for the Inte ...

, in respect of the

Concession, in order to ensure a "Through Traffic" pre-arrangement along the Corridor from

Durban Durban ( ) ( zu, eThekwini, from meaning 'the port' also called zu, eZibubulungwini for the mountain range that terminates in the area), nicknamed ''Durbs'',Ishani ChettyCity nicknames in SA and across the worldArticle on ''news24.com'' from ...

to Lusaka and beyond. The Consortium was declared the winner with the signing of the Freight Concession Agreement on 14 February 2003, by the Minister of Finance and National Planning of the Republic of Zambia, as well as representatives of the NLPI Consortium. The Consortium made a provision of US$40 million for the rehabilitation of Zambia Railways. The World Bank funded an additional investment of approximately US$30 million to finance Zambia Railways staff retrenchment packages, locomotive rehabilitation and other related projects. Zambia Railways, which comprises over 900 kilometres of mainline railways and + 300 kilometres of branch line railway, is one of the largest rail networks within the region The Zambia Concession, which covers the entire network from the

Sakania Sakania is a town in Haut-Katanga Province, in the Congo Pedicle, in the far south of the Democratic Republic of Congo, near the border with Zambia. It is located at an elevation of 1278m asl, therefore it has a cool climate. Between 1935 and 1939 i ...

Border to

Victoria Falls Victoria Falls ( Lozi: ''Mosi-oa-Tunya'', "The Smoke That Thunders"; Tonga: ''Shungu Namutitima'', "Boiling Water") is a waterfall on the Zambezi River in southern Africa, which provides habitat for several unique species of plants and anim ...

, including the

Copper Belt The Copperbelt () is a natural region in Central Africa which sits on the border region between northern Zambia and the southern Democratic Republic of Congo. It is known for copper mining. Traditionally, the term ''Copperbelt'' includes the ...

and other branch lines, not only constitutes one of the largest ever acquisitions in Zambia's history, but is also unique, as it is Zambia's first railway concession. The Concession should not be viewed in isolation but as part of a global effort by NLPI to alleviate railway, and other related transport, problems within the region. The Government of the Republic of Zambia terminated the concession contract on 11 September 2012, but RSZ dispute the grounds for termination.

References

External links

Company website
{{Use dmy dates, date=May 2011 Railway companies of Zambia 3 ft 6 in gauge railways in Zambia Companies with year of establishment missing it:Beitbridge Bulawayo Railway fi:Beitbridge Bulawayo Railway

Zambia railways concession

See also

References

External links