The Public-Private Partnership (PPP) between the National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) and the Zimbabwe Mining and Smelting Company (Zimasco) has successfully refurbished 51 NRZ wagons designated for transporting ferrochrome for export.
This strategic alliance benefits both companies and contributes to Zimbabwe’s economic growth by enhancing NRZ’s capacity to provide efficient logistics for exporting high-grade chromite concentrates, thereby generating essential foreign currency for the nation.
NRZ Public Affairs and Stakeholder Relations Manager, Andrew Kunambura, stated that the project has significantly increased NRZ’s operational capacity by efficiently allocating the refurbished wagons for Zimasco’s chrome exports to ports, improving turnaround times and operational efficiency.
“This PPP arrangement allows Zimasco to refurbish our wagons, and we offset the refurbishment costs against the freight charges for the traffic we move,” Kunambura explained. “Our strategic partnerships with ZimGas, Strauss, and others contribute to infrastructure development, operational capacity, and overall efficiency, enhancing rail services and supporting Zimbabwe’s economy.”
NRZ is also enhancing its operations on other fronts. Plans are underway to improve grain transportation logistics to ensure efficient movement.
In a video posted on NRZ’s X account (formerly Twitter), Chief Planning Manager Jacob Chionyere said the refurbished high-sided wagons would transport chrome from Zimasco plants to export markets in Maputo and Beira, Mozambique. “We devised a strategy to partner with private players to restore part of our capacity compromised by various defects. We’ve partnered with Zimasco to refurbish 100 wagons for general purposes and recover 3.9 locomotives dedicated to transporting ferrochrome and chrome,” Chionyere explained.
Chief Traffic Manager Gefferson Chimunye highlighted their collaboration with Zimasco, which focuses on refurbishing two specific locomotives and repairing eleven 3000-series locomotives currently out of service. The refurbished locomotives will be deployed across various routes. “This partnership will significantly increase our capacity and enable us to meet Zimasco’s loading requirements,” he said.
Chimunye also mentioned that Zimasco aims to transport at least 5,000 tonnes of chrome bi-weekly from Kwekwe and 15,000 tonnes to Beira every two weeks. “We seek to improve our trade balance with other countries and attract more foreign investments into Zimbabwe,” he added.
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