LUSAKA, Sept 14 (Reuters) – Zambia will invest $120 million
to revamp a railway line linking Africa’s top copper producer
with South Africa to move transport from road to rail, its
finance minister said on Friday.
Zambia exports the bulk of its copper through the port of
Durban in South Africa, but most mining companies transport the
metal by road because railway transport has been unreliable.
Finance Minister Alexander Chikwanda told a media briefing
that $120 million of the $750 million Zambia raised through a
debut eurobond on Thursday would be spent on the rail line.
“The matter of investing in Zambia Railways is of top
priority and of extreme urgency,” he said.
Increasing use of rail will reduce the amount of money spent
repairing roads damaged by heavy trucks, Chikwanda said.
The government this week canceled the lease of the railway
line awarded to private company Railway Systems of Zambia,
accusing it of mismanaging the company.
Mining companies operating in Zambia include Canada’s First
Quantum Minerals, Vedanta Resources Plc,
Glencore International and Barrick Gold Corp.
(Reporting by Chris Mfula; Editing by Agnieszka Flak and Ed
Stoddard)
© Thomson Reuters 2012 All rights reserved
