Namibia and Botswana will from 6 September to 8 November this year call for Expressions of Interest (EOI) for interested parties to express their interest in participating in the Trans-Kalahari Railway project.
The Trans-Kalahari Railway is a proposed 1500-km-long heavy haul railway from Botswana’s Mmamabula coal fields to the Port of Walvis Bay in Namibia. It is envisioned that the project will be implemented on a Design-Build-Operate-Transfer model.
Namibia’s Minister of Works and Transport Minister of Transport, John Mutorwa, and Botswana’s Minister of Transport and Public Works, Eric Molale said in a joint statement that the EOI will be followed by the Pre-Qualification Stage between December 2023 to February 2024.
The next stage will be a Request for Proposals (RFP) for 3 months from March 2024 and a development or construction stage to commence in January 2025.
“Affected communities and greater participation by companies and contractors from both countries during conception, construction and implementation phases will be consulted,” the two ministers said.
Mutorwa and Molale said the two governments will issue adverts and will use available websites of the Member States’ Ministries of Transport, Railway Authorities, Investment Promotion Agencies (APIs) and their respective Diplomatic Missions abroad. Mutorwa and Molale attended and co-chaired the Special Joint Ministerial Committee (JMC) of the Trans-Kalahari Railway Line(TKR) Project held this week in Windhoek, Namibia.
Mutorwa was accompanied by Esther Kaapanda, Executive Director in the Ministry of Works and Transport and Co-Chair of the Joint Steering Committee (JSC), Jonas Sheelongo, Deputy Executive Director and Co-Chair of the Joint Technical Committee (JTC) as well as port, corridor and rail Authorities and senior government Officials.
Molale was accompanied by Bareng Malatsi, Acting PermanentSecretary in the Ministry of Transport and Public Works and Co-Chair of the JSC and Johannes Tsimako, Deputy Permanent Secretary and Co-Chair of the JTC as well as Rail authorities and senior government officials.
The JMC was preceded by the Joint Steering Committee (JSC), which considered the draft Expression of Interest (EOI), update on the amendments of the Joint Technical Committee (JTC) structure and progress made by the TKR-Project Management Office (PMO) in auditing all the outstanding accounts.
The main activity of the JMC was to consider and approve the EOI on the implementation of the TKR Project and the associated timelines, since their last meeting of July 13, 2023.
Mutorwa and Molale said the two governments are committed to realising the critical project and expressed satisfaction with the work done by the rail authorities and senior officials and expressed hope that the stated timelines will be met.
