‘Malawi lags in regional rail connectivity’

Cornelder de Mozambique, one of the biggest cargo handlers on Mozambaque's Beira Port, last week urged Malawi's public and private enterprise to take advantage of its new US$2 million grain terminal expected to be completed by February next year.

The Beira Port fits into the ambitious regional transportation network, designed to connect eight Sadc countries through a railway interconnection system.

Executive director of Cornelder de Mozambique, Carlos Mesquita said the construction of the new terminal would increase import and export competitiveness of the countries that would utilize the facility through reduced overheads.

"By the end of the construction the terminal will have a 60 000 tonne handling capacity," he said adding, "landlocked countries like Malawi will gain from lower transport costs and reduced transit times."

The regional transport rail corridor is designed to reconnect Malawi to Mozambique and Zambia and further with Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Tanzania in east Africa and Zimbabwe, Botswana and South Africa in the south.

While the Mozambique government has already started rehabilitation works on the Sena corridor connecting the country to Malawi, Malawi is still sourcing funding to complete its part of the project.

A rail route to Morromeu, in Mozambique is already operational while the mainline to Moatiaze, near Malawi, is expected to be operational by the end of the year.

Malawi's secretary for transport, Francis Chisinga said only the Nacala corridor, connecting Mozambique's Maputo port to Malawi at Nayuchi, is operational while the Malawi/Zambia connection needs minor rehabilitation works.

"The reconnection through Malawi's Nsanje to Beira's Sena corridor needs a lot of money and we are trying to identify funding," said Chisinga adding that the government would also consider arrangements where interested investors would agree to rehabilitate the rail line, operate it before surrendering it to the Malawi government. Once completed, the Sena corridor will complement Malawi's much touted Nsanje World Inland Port.