Uhuru railway back on the tracks

Press, 22 October 1980, Page 15

Uhuru railway back on the tracks

... .< - 'l' Reprintad-Tront 5 the “Economist,’!; Londpn

The great ."Uhtirijf. railway is back Off the tracks for the moment. ■•■ High ranking Chinese, Zambian, and Tanzanian . officials came out of a fiverday huddle in Lusaka earlier* this month to toast, their agreed plan to rescue' the? shaky Tanzania-Zambia.. railway authority (Tazara)./ None? of . the three, coiin- ‘. tries can afford., to lef-Ta-zara go under,’’but none can afford .to ; sink /much more money- into; it. Tazara was the symbol of Zambia's commitment .to the African ’• liberation movement, of the , 1960 s and 19705, but. it has piled - up $26 million in cumulative net losses over its four-year official life. If it is to survive financially it has a lot of handicaps to overcome.

The Chinese-designed diesel hydraulic locomotives are under-powered, frequently break down, and are less frequently repaired because compatible spares are hard to get. At times, well under half the locomotives are working. The supply of waggons is unreliable. Port congestion, slow handling and use of Tazara waggons for Zambia’s internal rail system prolong turnround time.

Locomotives and rolling stock are now to be upgraded. The Chinese will provide $ll5 million for spare parts (under an existing loan agreement) and a new team of experts. West Germany has agreed to make $3B million in soft loans (half each to Tanzania and Zambia). The ministers want to use to buy 14 new West German locomotives and some extra new German turbine engines. The 3000-kilometre track from IZapiri M’Poshi in Zambia to Dar-es-Sa-laam in Tanzania runs through rugged and easily sabotaged terrain. In land-slip-prone parts of Tanzania, heavy rains flooded two tunnels .and made stretches of the track impassable in the spring of 1979. A year ago, Rhodesians blew up the rail and road bridges at Chambeshi and the rail bridge at Lunsemfwa, preventing all imports and most exports along the line during the last two months of 1979. Although the track has been shored up and. rerouted since then, tonnage

and speed still have to be stricted. Both track and bridges will now be permanently repaired. China will supply materia’-j and some engineers. Zambia and Tanzania with E.E.C. assistance ($2.5 million) will pay the rest. The ministers agreed other measures: Charges will rise as from October last; about $ll5 million of outstanding debts will be strongarmed into the till; and legislation may be pushed to discourage misappropriation of Taz?ra’s rolling stock. But the railway now faces increased competition. The southern route to the sea through Zimbabwe and South Africa, closed during sanctions. was reopened in October, 1978, to allow maize and fertiliser through to Zambia. In 1979, 41 per cent of Zambia’s total foreign trade (by weight) was transported on the southern route, up from 9 per cent in 1978 and nothing at all in 1977. Zambia’s imports (mainly food) took more than half. the total, but exports (mainly copper — almost all cobalt is flown out) were creeping up. Roan Consolidated Mines, one of Zambia’s two big mining concerns, reported last month that 55 per cent of its copper had gone out through the southern route in the nine months to March 30, 1980. Dar-es-Salaam’s share of Zambia’s foreign trade shrank correspondingly, from 83 per cent in 1977, to 74 per cent in 1978, and to 49 per cent in 1979. And Tazara carried less of the total transported through Dar-es-Sa-

laam. Only 452,000 tonnes in 1979, down from 856,000 tonnes in 1978. Tazara is now squeezed bv road transport to Dar-es-Salaam and rail transport south. Trucks carried 305,000 tonnes to Dar-es-Salaam in 1979, compared with 226,000 tonnes in 1978. If the railway is to avoid losses, it needs to carry the bulk of Zambia’s copper (40,000 tonnes a month, Tanzania urged earlier this year, or about 80 per cent of production). Tanzania’s views did not prevail. In August, officials from both Governments and Tazara agreed on targets — not guaranteed minimum quotas — with mining companies; about 28;000 tonnes a month via Tazara, 18,000 by Zambia-Tanzania road services and 9000 tonnes on the southern route. Even with a 10 per cent price increase, Tazara will undercut the shorter, faster southern route, but both could be cut out of the game if the Benguela railway through Angola — the most efficient route for copper but closed by guerrilla activity — gets back in business. Nevertheless, Zambia, Tanzania and China are at present determined to keep Tazara going, not just for its political symbolism but also for mixed commercial reasons. Zambia never again wants to have to rely on a single route. Tanzania needs Tazara to provide business for Dar-es-Salaam. China is fed up with the troublesome project,- but thinks that repayment of its loan (which begins in January, 1983) will proceed more smoothly if Tazara is still working..