Train hauls fuel to Lilongwe after 21 years

For the first time in 21 years, a train yesterday delivered fuel in Lilongwe from Nacala Port in Mozambique in a move expected to buoy the local transport sector.

Parked beside the remains of what used to be a train station terminal, the train’s arrival brought nostalgic feelings to Lilongwe residents that thronged National Oil Company of Malawi (Nocma) fuel depot in Area 25 to witness the event.

The 16-wagon wet cargo train hauled 580 000 litres of diesel, according to Nocma.

Nacala Logistics general manager Chandra Mohan Singh, whose company operates the country’s railway infrastructure, said they expect to move over one million litres of fuel from Nacala to Lilongwe in the next two weeks.

He said this is now the way of hauling fuel on the 826-kilometre (km) rail line from the Indian Ocean port of Nacala in Mozambique.

Illustrating the efficiency of transporting goods through rail, Singh said it now takes 48 hours to transport goods from Nacala to Lilongwe, 36 hours to Limbe in Blantyre and 24 hours to Liwonde in Machinga.

He said Nacala Logistics has signed a contract with Nocma to transport 16 million litres of fuel this year.

Malawi Energy Regulatory Authority vice-board chairperson Phyllis Manguluti said strategically, the Nacala railway line should bring in 20 percent of the country’s fuel imports while 50 percent is supposed to come through the Beira route, also in Mozambique, and all that fuel ought to come by rail.

“All that fuel from these routes was being carried by trucks, but eventually we will have it all carried by train and that brings efficiency,” she said.

In his remarks, Minister of Energy Ibrahim Matola decried vandalism of the railway network, saying it is economic sabotage that the government will fight.

Minister of Industry and Trade Sosten Gwengwe said revamping the railway system is part of bringing down the cost of doing business in the country as transport is a major contributor to the cost of imports and exports.

“This is not just about fuel, it is beyond the fuel and we want all the imports and exports to be carried by train because it is cheaper than road,” he said.

Figures from Nacala Logistics show that it costs an average of $0.06 (about K105) to $0.08 (about K140) per tonne per kilometre to transport goods by rail while freight or road transport costs $0.10 (about K175) to $0.12 (about K210) per tonne per kilometre.

Nacala Logistics already did a trial shipment of coal from Moatize in Mozambique to Lilongwe for Shayona Cement Company Limited.

Speaking at the event, Secretary to the President and Cabinet Colleen Zamba said government plans to extend the railway line to the Northern Region to fully connect the country’s trade routes.

Singh said before the end of the year, the stretch between Lilongwe and Chipata on the border between Malawi and Zambia will be completed to enhance movement of cargo between the two countries.

Malawi’s fuel import route mix requires 70 percent of the country’s fuel imports to come through Mozambique’s ports with Beira processing 50 percent and Nacala facilitating 20 percent while the remaining 30 percent is hauled through the port of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania.

But that mix had been off the rails as 82 percent of fuel imports used to come through Dar es Salaam, a port that is roughly double the distance to Malawi compared to either Beira or Nacala. As of last year, Beira accounted for just 17 percent of fuel imports while Nacala accounted for one percent.

But Nocma, working with Ministries of Energy and Transport, have been steadily improving the route mix, with the rail haulage extension set to be a game changer.