Nacala pumps $20 million into railway facelift
Nacala Logistics has invested $20 million (K16 billion) in facelifting the railways system leading to a dry port the firm has constructed in Limbe.
The firm is targeting to ease transportation of goods into and within the country.
The company has also invested in a new fleet of locomotives.
In an interview after unveiling the locomotive, Nacala Logistics Director Gustavo Henrrique Stein said the country would benefit from the investment.
“The locomotives were designed in the past five years. They are stronger than the locomotives we had before. We will be much faster when bringing goods and we will be able to bring cargo at a lesser cost,” he said.
Stein further said the investment would help increase volumes of cargo at a given period.
“With the old locomotives, we were able to bring at least 6, 000 tonnes [of goods] per month. Our target is to improve to about 8, 000 tonnes of goods per month. We can also bring more cargo with less strength than before. In the future, we hope to bring about 100, 000 tonnes of goods in a month,” he said.
The railway system has been widely reported to be the cheapest transportation mode for both passengers and goods.
However, there are only two rail routes in Malawi, a 696 kilometre (km) long route from the border station at Marka – the border post with Mozambique – to Mchinji, the border post with Zambia, and a 101 km long route from Nkaya to Nayuchi, the border post with Mozambique.
