Cear in $3m railway rehabilitation project

The Central East Africa Railway Company (Cear) plans to injected $3 million (about K900 million) in the rehabilitation project of the Liwonde-Nayuchi Railway Line.

The news has excited market analysts who described it as a positive development for a landlocked country with one of the highest costs of transportation in the Sadc region.

Cear managing director Hendry Chimwaza in an interview on Wednesday said the project will roll out in less than a month.

“The rehabilitation project will start soon, possibly within a month from now. We will rehabilitate a 70-kilometre stretch from Liwonde to Nayuchi,” he said.

Market analyst Chikavu Nyirenda said the project will have a positive impact on transportation costs in Malawi.

“Railway and sea are the cheapest means of transport anywhere in the world compared to the road. It is, however, unfortunate that Malawi is not investing much in the railway system,” he said.

He said lack of maintenance and investment in railway emanate from “self interest from some quarters of society.”

The Liwonde-Nayuchi Railway is part of the Nacala Corridor, the shortest route connecting Blantyre and Lilongwe to Nacala Port in Mozambique.

According to reports, Malawi is one of the biggest users of the gateway which boasts deep waters. Some of the goods transported through the corridor include sugar, fertiliser, wheat and tobacco.