The National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) and the Zimbabwe National Road Administration (ZINARA) have issued a united call to the mining industry for strategic partnerships aimed at decongesting the country’s roads and revitalising rail infrastructure to support the sector’s ambitious growth agenda, Mining Zimbabwe can report.
By Rudairo Mapuranga
The calls were made during the Mine Entra Suppliers and Energy Symposium, where both parastatals acknowledged the critical role transport infrastructure plays in unlocking the full potential of Zimbabwe’s mining value chain.
NRZ: Acknowledging Gaps and Extending an Invitation
Takunda Madanha, NRZ’s Chief Marketing and Business Development Manager, delivered a candid admission about the state of the national rail network, saying the parastatal is “past the denial” phase regarding its operational inefficiencies.
“We are here to acknowledge that certainly in the delivery of our mandate, there are gaps, and we are here to seek assistance in terms of how we can restore the National Railways of Zimbabwe back to factory settings,” said Madanha.
He emphasised that the organisation is currently crafting its 2026–2030 strategic plan, with a core objective of revitalising its services to provide cost-effective, high-volume, and safe transport from “the pit to the port.”
Highlighting the strategic advantage of the rail network, Madanha noted that NRZ operates within a 50-kilometre radius of most major mining operations and occupies a strategic regional position linking Zimbabwe with Zambia, Botswana, South Africa, and Mozambique.
In a significant development, Madanha announced that NRZ is opening the rail space to private sector participation. The parastatal is inviting miners to bring in their own locomotives and wagons to create dedicated capacity for their haulage needs.
“The same conversation is ongoing in Botswana, the same conversation is also ongoing in Zambia. And in Zimbabwe, we are also here to announce that we are opening up the rail space to private participation,” he stated.
ZINARA: Fighting Congestion with New Models
Addressing the symposium, ZINARA CEO Nkosinathi Ncube painted a stark picture of the strain on the country’s road network, citing an eight-kilometre queue of trucks at the Beitbridge Border Post on the day of his address, which had stretched to 16 kilometres the previous day.
Ncube said the mining industry is a primary user of the country’s roads and highlighted the enormous costs associated with infrastructure maintenance, ranging from US$500,000 to US$1.3 million per kilometre for road rehabilitation.
“The traffic that really grows more than any other is heavy traffic, with loads carrying mining equipment and other infrastructure-related equipment,” he said.
To address these challenges, ZINARA is proposing a distance-and-load-based charging model, which Ncube said is designed to “minimise costs” for the industry while generating sustainable revenue for road maintenance.
Ncube called for partnerships between mining companies and the government to develop and maintain key transport corridors, including routes linking the country’s borders. This collaboration is aimed at improving the supply chain and ensuring the sustainability of the mining industry’s growth trajectory.
Both NRZ and ZINARA emphasised the urgent need for collaboration to build a resilient and efficient transport network. Their respective calls for private sector participation and novel funding models signal a pragmatic shift in how Zimbabwe’s state-owned enterprises are seeking to support the mining industry, which is pivotal to the country’s economic transformation agenda.
