Namibian parastatal TransNamib is on track to break even by 2023, according to chief executive officer Johny Smith.Speaking at the company’s annual general meeting (AGM) in Windhoek, Smith said TransNamib’s turnaround was gaining traction, with the company reporting growth in rail revenue, freight volumes and increased income from its property portfolio.In 2020 TransNamib held its first AGM in six years, after receiving its first unqualified audit in almost a decade for the 2018/2019 financial year. To reach break-even volumes TransNamib will need to double its locomotive f leet – from an operational f leet of 43 at present to 86 by the end of 2023. Ten of these will be new and 33 will be refurbished units. They will increase the capacity from 1.5 million metric tons a year to 3.1 million tons, according to Smith.TransNamib’s five-year plan will require an investment of R2.6 billion, with another R15 billion needed to upgrade the rail network. Volumes have grown from 1.5 million tons in 2018 to 1.7 million tons in 2020 – which is still below the peak of two million tons in 2010. The drop in volumes in part ref lects the emphasis by the Namibian government on roads. According to Smith, the length of paved roads increased by 73% from 4 572 km in 1990 to 8 259 km in 2020.In contrast, the rail network grew by 13% from 2 372 km to 2 687 km. TransNamib, in its bid to attract freight from road, has also introduced a “block train” strategy. “This essentially means there is a total of two locomotives and at least 20 wagons carrying a certain product. The current block trains focus on fuel, copper concentrate, coal, manganese and acid. “The benefits of block trains are that there is only one stop to refuel and it increases the efficiency of the operations,” said Smith.One of the successes is the transport of product for Ohorongo Cement.Speaking at the AGM, Hans-Wilhelm Shutte, managing director of Ohorongo Cement, said the company had moved all its cement on the 314-km route between Otavi and Ondangwa in northern Namibia to rail, and also brought all its coal from Walvis Bay to Otavi by rail – a distance of 530 km.TransNamib had made 45 wagons available for a standard train between Tsumeb and Ondangwa.Otavi is on the northern rail route to a planned multimodal logistics hub at Grootfontein, which is 95 km away.It is 69 km from Tsumeb, from which TransNamib has introduced an overnight service to Ondangwa. A second hub is planned for Gobabis on the Namibia-Botswana border. Smith also wants to use existing and new infrastructure to transform rural rail sidings transformed into smaller logistics hubs with warehousing and distribution support.Volumes have grown from 1.5 million tons in 2018 to 1.7 million tons in 2020 — which is still below the peak of two million tons in 2010. – Johny Smith“
