afrol News, 21 March - Angolan and Zambian officials have begun discussions on re-establishing direct air and rail links between the two neighbour countries. While national airliners already are requesting permissions to establish Luanda-Lusaka flights, the 1,500 kilometre railway link remains a more complicated question, including investments of US$ 60 million.

According to Angola's governmental Private Agency for Investment (ANIP), discussions on these issues started already last week. Angolan and Zambian governement officials are meeting to sort out how the previous infrastructure links between the two countries can be re-established. Before the destructions of Angola's civil war, good connections existed between the two colonies and Angolan ports were the main outlets of Zambia's considerable mining production.

ANIP reports that Angola's national airline TAAG already has submitted a request to provide direct air passenger service between Lusaka and Luanda. Officials from Zambia's Ministry of Transport and Communication reportedly had indicated that "they expect to approve the request within the coming days," the Angolan state agency noted.

Direct flights from Luanda to Lusaka were stopped in 1999. TAAG officials in Zambia's capital Lusaka already in January this year announced their intentions to re-introduce this flight, quoting the current "transport problems" between Angola and Zambia. The new weekly passenger, cargo and mail flight "would boost business between the two countries," TAAG officials had noted.

The Angolan airliner was planning to use Lusaka as a connecting point for flights to Maputo (Mozambique), Lubumbashi (Congo) and Harare (Zimbabwe). While TAAG first wants to introduce weekly departures, additional flights could soon be set up.

While a Luanda-Lusaka flight connection only needs formal approval by the Zambian government, the plan to re-establish the old rail link is more extensive. According to ANIP, the two countries are now considering re-connecting Zambia's North-Western Province with Angola's Benguela Railroad.

The two countries had already "signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) and feasibility studies of the proposed US$ 60 million project are underway." The Zambian government also was expected to sign an MOU with Northwest Rail, a private company that plans to build the rail link that would connect the Zambian province to Angola's Benguela Railroad.

Prior to Angola's civil war, the 1,500-kilometre Benguela Railroad was a major transportation thoroughfare that carried Zambian copper to Angolan ports in Lobito and Benguela. "Reviving the railroad would greatly enhance regional transportation and facilitate regional commerce," according to ANIP.

The Benguela Railroad was one of Angola's most badly damaged infrastructures during the civil war. It crossed the shifting frontline between government forces and the UNITA rebels. Currently less than 450 kilometres of the railway is fully operational.

The old Benguela Railroad - which passes through Lubumbashi in southern Congo Kinshasa (DRC) - was Angola's only connection to the Southern African railway network. From Lusaka, other old railroads connect with Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Mozambique, Botswana and even South Africa. Most of these lines are however in a poor state.

Also other sectors of Angola's former large railway network were badly damaged by the war and rehabilitation projects are currently ongoing all over the country. Only last week, the government of India agreed to provide Angola with a US$ 40 million credit facility to help the country rebuild its railway networks.

The two countries signed five cooperation agreements recently that cover professional development of railroad staff, provision of operational equipment and business management for the Moçâmedes Railroad, and the rehabilitation of railroad offices. The 700-kilometer Moçâmedes Railroad connects the coastal city of Namibe (formerly called Moçâmedes) with the interior provincial capital Menongue.

Most Angolan railways are east-west bound, connecting the interior with one of the country's major ports. These lines are however not inter-connected. First plans on new north-south bound connections are however being made. The governments of Namibia and Angola last year agreed to connect the city of Namibe (southern Angola) with Namibia's railroad network. This would provide a direct connection to Namibia's capital Windhoek and further on to South Africa.

By staff writer

© afrol News

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