Tayali in Washington says Zambia modernizing its railway systems

Government says it is working on modernising the railway sector to ensure that it manages the current huge traffic volumes of bulk cargo.

Transport and Logistics Minister, Frank Tayali, said Zambia was now focused to use the rail-way sector in transporting bulk cargo.

Tayali stated that railway transport of bulk cargo was the best mode of transportation to address decarbonisation.

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He said this during a panel discussion looking at the ‘Future of Sustainable Logistics’ on the sidelines of the 2023 World Bank Group – International Monetary Fund Spring Meetings in Washington, D.C on Saturday.

“Zambia is in a process of bringing others to cooperate in doing business. The cost of doing business should be transformed in a sustainable manner. During the time of Covid-19, business was affected, and we had a lot of backloads, because a lot of trucks of over 40,000 moved out of the roads. So, we need to move to the railway system.

“Our rail-way system needs to be improved in infrastructure and resuscitated. The non-use of the rail-way sector has impacted hugely on the roads, and that is why we look to resuscitate the rail-way sector,” Tayali said.

Tayali also said Zambia was working with the World Bank to develop a national logistic strategy which is now underway.

He explained that this would help bring into focus other interventions that would be useful for a land linked country such as Zambia.

“What will be important in the case for Zambia with huge traffic volumes having to be responsible for the movement of cargo and passengers, is to look at moving particularly the bulk cargo on rail.

“That is one area we have identified as a major contributor to decarbonization and sustainable logistic arrangements. Other than that, we look to aviation as a subsector,” Tayali said.

Contributed by Julius Phiri

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