The state-owned rail companies of Botswana and Mozambique are preparing to build an estimated $7-billion transport project that would include one of Africa’s longest railways and a deepwater port on the Indian Ocean, south of Maputo. A recent agreement between the two governments calls for the scheme to include private financing, but backing has not yet been secured.
The new railway would run from Botswana Railways’ (BR) Francistown Container Terminal across Zimbabwe to the site of the new port at Techobanine Point. Mozambique’s ports at Beira, Nacala and Maputo are served by three existing railroads.