Report Land-Linked Zambia© : Conference & Exhibition 2022
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Workshop 3 Sustainable Freight Railway Systems for Africa: Zambia’s Multi-modal and Railroad Potential The Managing Director of Zambia Railways Limited and Moderator for this workshop, Eng. Fred Mwila, welcomed delegates for the third workshop and introduced panelists. The workshop started with a video illustrating how indispensable the railway system was to Zambia. He explained that multimodalism is the 6th mode of transportation apart from rail, road, air, water and pipeline. As such, he emphasised the need to look at the current infrastructure in Zambia and consider improvements to make it more efficient.
SARA has, therefore, started engaging ports in the region with other stakeholders to create synergies. “We hope to create an interface between Zambia Sugar and salt companies in Botswana, among others, as an example” he added. Corridor competition is very important, and it mostly helps the rail transport sector. It is important for Zambia to realise the benefits from several sources. For instance, “How is Africa capturing the transit status of Zambia?” he asked. It is essential to create high efficiency between the rails, port and lines especially that every delay costs operators thousands of dollars. He implored delegates to also consider partnerships with Zambia Railways by buying wagons as opposed to trucks. It is important for delegates to seize the many opportunities in the railway sector. He stated that it was important to have the railway system becomes more customer centric to enable stakeholders to appreciate the services provided. It is also recommended that the Government of Zambia, and stakeholders, also harnesses opportunities regarding branch lines.
Lubinda Sakanga of the Southern Africa Railways Association (SARA) explained that SARA was an association of all railway stakeholders in the SADC region. The association advocates for rail policies across SADC countries to enable regional integration and trade by providing the necessary technical support and advisory to countries. He indicated that sustainability in the Transport and Logistics sector is most achieved through rail and multimodal inputs.
Key point 6 It was noted that the COVID-19 pandemic has made Governments realise the importance of cargo and the utilisation of this service to stimulate interest in the transport sector. To this end, the conference praised the Government of Zambia for its policy directive to have at least 30% cargo to be transported by rail. The conference encourages more implementation support for SI NO.7 of 2018 and enforcing the policy on cargo on rails. Additionally, making KKIA an aviation hub can be effectively achieved through a strategy of making it a cargo hub for the sub-region with capability towards achieving a multi movement of cargo. Zambia needs to be marketed well to achieve this, and the Government must lead this charge.
Speakers make their points during a session 1: Bruno Shing’andu (TAZARA) 2: Sakanga Lubinda, Southern African Railway Associations (SARA) 3: Fred Mwila, Zambia Railways
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