Tazara looks to private sector

The Tanzania, Zambia Railway Authority (Tazara) is mulling plans to enable the private sector participation in the operations of the company.

The Tanzania-Zambia Council of Ministers, which is the highest policy organ of Tazara, has directed the board of directors and management to work out a framework for incorporating private sector participation in the Authority’s operations. The Tanzanian minister for Transport Dr Harrison Mwakyembe and his Zambian counterpart Yamfwa Mukanga, met in the city last week and agreed in principle to proposals by the board of directors to engage the private sector in the operations of Tazara through “smart partnerships and open access”, a statement released yesterday by Tazara says.

The ministers agreed that the proposal to engage the private sector was mooted as a way of meeting the railway firm’s critical requirements for both re-capitalisation and working capital.

“The Council of Ministers observed that both the Tanzanian and Zambian governments were increasingly finding it difficult to justify the continued putting of tax-payers’ money into Tazara, when in fact the Authority had the potential to not only be self-sustaining, but declaring dividends as well,” the statement said. The November 13 meeting was also attended by Tanzania deputy ministers for Finance and Transport, Ms Sahada Mkuya Salum and Dr Charles Tizeba respectively. From Zambia minister for Finance Keith Mukata was also present.

The acting managing director, Mr Ronald Phiri, has confirmed that the strategic plan that was due to be presented at the board meeting for consideration would be revisited to accommodate a policy shift that allowed for more visible and active private sector involvement in the operations of the Authority.

“Having been given a free reign to open up and incorporate workable smart partnerships, we are actively revising our five-year strategic plan to look for investment funding elsewhere and possibly invite non-equity private investments through an enhanced integration of private participation in our operations,” Mr Phiri was quoted as saying in a public statement.