The national rail operator, TransNamib says it seeks to turn its fortunes from the envisaged procurement of 10 locomotives estimated to cost N$800 million and the remanufacturing of its rolling stock.
One locomotive is estimated to cost approximately N$80 million, with funding expected to come from the N$2.6 billion loan funding from the Development Bank of Namibia and Development Bank of South Africa granted in 2022, to fund the new TransNamib’s 2023-2028 Integrated Strategic Business Plan.
“The confirmed loan will mainly focus on the remanufacturing of our rolling stock as well as buying 10 new locomotives. With funding secured, TransNamib is now focused on improving its locomotive capacity,” said TransNamib acting CEO Webster Gonzo.
In May TransNamib revealed that 22 trains are earmarked for re-manufacturing in order to boost the parastatal’s running fleet.
The rail operator is plagued by prevalent derailment, which is attributed to poor rail infrastructure and an old fleet, thus putting a further strain on its dwindling finances.
“We currently have 25 operational locos, while an additional 13 are under repair and another 22 are earmarked for remanufacturing,” TransNamib spokesperson Abigail Raubenheimer said at the time.
She said the company spends a minimum of N$1 million and above for repairs of locomotives involved in accidents.
TransNamib has been in the public domain for all bad things, from poor governance, losses running at N$10 million a month, remuneration and human resource issues.
However, this time around Gonzo said, the entity has reinvigorated itself as it looks into regaining its glory days, and become the hub of logistical freight.
“Despite the challenges of rolling stock, TransNamib managed to attain its highest percentage increase in revenue in over a decade, though this course was derailed by Covid-19. However, in the 2018-19 financial year, we generated N$517 million in revenues, which was an increase of 10.5%. In the same year, we presented a first unqualified audit, something that never happened in 10 years,”
Other successes he pointed out were related to corporate governance, as they managed to host an Annual General Meeting in 2020 after seven years of absence.
In 2022, about 27 trainee drivers were recruited through an apprenticeship programme that seeks to replace the aging pool of drivers who will be heading into retirement in the next five years.
“It is, therefore, crucial for the company to create capacity for the future through injecting new blood. This will be a continuous exercise as we evaluate which department needs to be capacitated. The trainees are offered three year training.”
He further hinted that the company was able to streamline its business processes resulting in the reduction of costs.
Such interventions include introducing specific road-to-rail for some of their clients by using space at TransNamib distribution points for local markets.
“Of course, we hoped to have achieved more in terms of implementation of the business plan, but naturally no business is exempted from the effect of micro and macro environments. Thus, through our challenges TransNamib has been resilient and remained focused on our vision which is to turn around the fortunes of the company, and become a sustainable organisation that adds value to the economy,” Gonzo said.
