Nocma to start importing fuel via Nacala rail line
State-owned National Oil Company of Malawi (Nocma) has announced plans to start transporting fuel through Nacala Railway Corridor to supplement road transportation from Mozambique and Tanzania ports.
Minister of Natural Resources, Energy and Mining Aggrey Massi said this last week when he toured one of the strategic fuel reserves at Matindi on the outskirts of Blantyre.
Matindi fuel reserves alongside those in Lilongwe and Mzuzu were built using a line of credit worth $26.5 million (K19.4 billion) from Exim Bank of India to guarantee security of fuel supply.
Speaking after touring the facility in Blantyre, Massi said he was impressed with the dedication of Nocma staff in taking care of the reserves.
He said: “At the moment, we have trucks that can only come and offload, but in the pipeline we have lined up the rail system so that fuel can be loaded from Nacala [in Mozambique] all the way to Blantyre’s Matindi depot.”
Currently, Nocma brings most of its fuel by road from the ports of Beira in Mozambique and Dar es Salaam in Tanzania.
In an earlier interview, Nocma spokesperson Telephorus Chigwenembe said Nacala Corridor is crucial for business, adding that volumes of fuel to be transported through rail will be significant.
Speaking when he inaugurated the Kachaso-Nkaya railway section of the Nacala Corridor recently, Minister of Transport and Public Works Jappie Mhango said the section will ease transportation of goods to and from Mozambique.
Nacala Corridor provides the shortest access and stretches from Chipata, Zambia, through Liwonde in Malawi to the Indian Ocean. n
