CONCESSIONS to operate three rail corridors radiating from the Mozambique capital Maputo are in jeopardy; CFM’s chief negotiator Miguel Matabel said in April that negotiations had collapsed because the latest offers were ’not good enough’. Last year CFM selected a Spoornet-led consortium to take over the Maputo - Ressano Garcia corridor and the Portuguese-Spanish Consortia 2000 to run the lines to Chicualacuala and Goba.
Malawi’s Privatisation Commission has selected CFM to run Malawi Railways. MR General Manager Enoch Limbe says CFM was preferred because Malawi relies heavily on its line to the port of Nacala. CFM has recently selected a US-based consortium to operate the Nalaca line (RG 4.99 p190).
- Mid-June is due to see the selection of a preferred bidder to run Madagascar Railways’ 710 km northern network; final bids for the 20-year concession were to be submitted at the end of May.
Last month South Africa’s Transport Minister Mac Maharaj unveiled a 20-year strategic transport plan entitled Moving South Africa. This envisages greater private-sector investment, including concessions to run parts of the national rail network. Maharaj says the objective is ’a highly effective integrated rail, bus and taxi network and a rapid and efficient freight system.’
