Chamwe Kaira
TransNamib Holdings plans to double the transportation of manganese to the port of Lüderitz from the current 15 000 tonnes to 30 000 tonnes. The manganese comes Northern Cape in South Africa for export via Lüderitz.
This development follows the reviving of the Aus to Lüderitz railway line after 20 years of dormancy. It is currently moving about 15 000 tonnes of manganese per month between Ariamsvlei and Lüderitz.
“This route has become a major revenue-generating source for TransNamib, and we are in the process of upscaling the tonnage of manganese moved to 30 000 tonnes per month, pending our ability to increase capacity in terms of rolling stock,” Abigail Raubenheimer Manager of Corporate Communications said in an interview.
In a related development, TransNamib Holdings and Botswana Railways signed a memorandum of understanding, which will culminate in the development and operation of a container terminal in Gobabis.
“The intermodal linkage from Walvis Bay to Gobabis will, therefore, reduce the road transportation return trip with about 1200 km,” she said.
The improved performance in the 2019/2020 financial year, saw TransNamib record a revenue growth with a 10.5% increase in freight revenue in more than a decade giving a promising start to TransNamib’s Integrated Business Plan (ISBP) to transform the company into a sustainable organisation adding value to the Namibian economy.
“Of course, the next financial year, TransNamib’s progress was derailed by the unexpected worldwide Covid-19 pandemic, wherein TransNamib experienced a 50% decrease in revenue in the first month of its financial year due to lockdowns, restrictions and worldwide trend in decreasing freight cargo volumes. Given the nature and time length of the pandemic, it severely impacted TransNamib’s ability to recover quickly and still has an impact on the business,” Raubenheimer added.
Last year, the Development Bank of Namibia and Development Bank of Southern Africa confirmed a loan of about N$2.6 billion finance for TransNamib to be solely used for the remanufacturing of rolling stock, acquisition of new rolling stock, modernization of the TransNamib workshops, installation of signaling equipment, including spares and associated equipment.
Raubenheimer said the company has also reduced its workforce from 1400 to 1100 through a rightsizing exercise as it became necessary to reduce the company’s staff complement to right-size the organisation to its present business pattern and structure.
“With a decline substantial decline in cargo volumes experienced by TransNamib, as well as certain positions becoming redundant due to operations such as road operations, being closed, it had become necessary for TransNamib to right-size the organisation in terms of the staff complement.”
The other management improvement was producing the first unqualified audit in more than 10 years as well as AGM for 7 years in 2020 to clear historical financials.
“TransNamib invested over N$12 million in providing apprenticeship/traineeship and internships through partnerships with Namibian training and development institutions since 2018,” said Raubenheimer.
During the period 2018-2021, TransNamib provided over 115 apprenticeship opportunities in the trades such as fitters, motor mechanics, electricians, track welders, trackmen, telecom and radio technicians and boilermakers.
CHALLENGES
Raubenheimer said the challenges facing the company include limited training and development opportunities.
“It has been very difficult to develop opportunities for growth for our staff before 2018 as we had a period of more than 10 years with no human resources developing programmes and therefore the company has a serious deficit in the appropriate skills in many areas within the company.”
The aged and deteriorating state of the country’s railway infrastructure hampers operations, resulting in bottlenecks, and has the potential to cause derailments, which can lead to a loss of life, environmental harm and damage to expensive equipment at any given time, she said.
In addition, TransNamib’s well-known historical cash flow constraints have continued to hamper the company’s turnaround strategy.
“We have been quite transparent in terms of our challenges with outdated rolling stock. Some of our locomotives are over 50 years old, while the lifespan of a locomotive is 25 years. We have done as much as we can and pushed as much as possible with the current rolling stock but in order to reach our plan of becoming a profitable company, we need rolling stock that is reliable and safe; hence, the acquisition of rolling stock needs to be urgently addressed.”
IPPR REPORT
TransNamib said the recent Institute of Public Policy Research (IPPR) report, which among other things said the state-owned railway operator ‘has been a perennial governance ‘problem child’ for the longest time,’ is simply a re-iteration of the Ernst and Young report that the Minister of Finance, the Anti-Corruption Commission and the TransNamib board of directors have pronounced themselves on and cleared TransNamib management of all allegations of corruption.
“In terms of ethical research, we would have hoped that an independent body such as IPPR would have launched an independent investigation and not solely relied upon a repot completed by another party without any independent verification whatsoever of the allegations contained in such a report. In terms of this process the IPPR has failed in their mandate to deliver independent and analytical research,” said Raubenheimer.
She said the loss making company in conjunction with its shareholder has developed a solid strategy to transform the company.
“Having secured funding TransNamib is working towards increasing its capacity that will enable the company to move more freight and provide a reliable service that will move TransNamib towards sustainability.”
The aged and deteriorating state of the country’s railway infrastructure hampers operations, resulting in bottlenecks, and has the potential to cause derailments, which can lead to a loss of life, environmental harm and damage to expensive equipment at any given time, she said.
In addition, TransNamib’s well-known historical cash flow constraints have continued to hamper the company’s turnaround strategy.
“We have been quite transparent in terms of our challenges with outdated rolling stock. Some of our locomotives are over 50 years old, while the lifespan of a locomotive is 25 years. We have done as much as we can and pushed as much as possible with the current rolling stock but in order to reach our plan of becoming a profitable company, we need rolling stock that is reliable and safe; hence, the acquisition of rolling stock needs to be urgently addressed.”
