North-West Railway Company (NWR) has entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Tagos Group of Companies, a United States (US) based company.
The MoU is for the implementation of the 405 Kilometre rail project at a cost of US$500 million.
ZANIS reports that NWR Chairman Enock Kavindele said the project is important for the country as it will open up North Western Province to a lot of mining activities.
Mr Kavindele disclosed that North Western Province now produces about 66 percent of the country’s copper but that there is no means of bringing ore to smelt the copper.
The North West Rail Company Chairman said during a Press Briefing in Lusaka today at Mulungishi International Conference Centre on the sidelines of the 10th Africa Growth and Opportunity Act (AGOA) forum that a lot of work has been made.
He said the Province has been been depending on trucks to haul the ore adding that this had resulted in congestion on the road.
Mr Kavindele said the implementation of the North West rail will give a different outlook to the province.
He said about 4000 jobs are expected to be created from the project that will largely be financed by the American company.
He further said Government has given a lot of licences to various mining companies for mining rights and explorations in the province hence the project will help enhance mining activities in the area.
Mr Kavindele described the project as big and that it will require the support of all stakeholders including Government, the Private Sector among others.
Speaking at the same briefing, Tagos Group of Companies Chairman Milton Scot said transparency and a good democratic government was the yard stick for US investment in any particular country in the world.
Mr Scot said Zambia’s positive democratic and transparency record has helped the country attract capital investment from the US.
He urged the Zambian Government to continue upholding transparency and good democratic principles for accelerated US investment in the country.
ZANIS
Politics of the belly yielding results.It is now incumbent on Kavindele to ensure RB gets his votes from North Western.
I love this man, I was honoured to have meant him, when he came to Internationl School of Lusaka. So I am always happy with his achievemnts and so on, I have a lot of time for this man, He is a man of High Integrity.My due respect goes to him, and ANYONE who has a bad feeling about this man, I have no respect for them whatsoever.
The man should have been a president if you ask me. Well done Mr Kavindele we are all behind you . Great Man Thanks
Wow Mushota how is your husband? Havent heard about him today?
This B*tch was at ISL? What a waste. They didn’t do a good job with your English grammar. Go back to school and stop chasing old men. I’m sure you would open your legs for Kav any day. Get a life!Â
yesterday in parley Given Lubinda asked why a lot of money had been pumped into the mchinji railway line and it has never been used. The Minister for communication responded that it had been used before when RB and Mutharika commissioned it the train moved from Mchinji (Malawi) to Chipata. As a follow up another MP asked whether its purpose was for the two presidents to take a joy ride and bwana Minister failed to give a satisfactory answer.
500 US Mita is a step in the right direction. Build a track for a high speed train side by side with the Goods train. Nice work Ba former VP
At least Kavindele will take care of so many bellies, i mean for him to employ more than 4000 people is something commendeble. Chaps like Braggadocio(@1) ONLY see evil in everything.Kavindele is talking development while a PF fool is talking politcs.
This is great Mr KV,please make sure that it takes off. We need real development of this nature which benefits everybody in the country. We need such big minded business men in this counrty and we had even 20 of them we would be soemwhere far in development.
A very welcome development indeed. Over the yearz Kavindele being an accomplished shrewd businessman he iz, haz wanted to do thingz that benefit the people.Â
However, if this haz anything to do withe perceived support the MMD and RB may expect to get in this year’z electionz, then they are fishing on dry land becauze Kavindele iz no longer a factor politically. Â
After all these years, all the big man has to show for it is an MoU….. An a MoU is not an enforceable contract for the construction of the railway. What happens when RB leaves plot 1 this year? This thing will never take off until there is a serious promoter, not a political joker!
BREAKING NEWS: The military has taken over while RB is at Mulungushi Conference with Clinton stay tuned.
get a life you shallow minded brat. Its best to keep quiet if u ve nothing to say.
No 2 Mushota i second your comments.Sometimes Zambian should learn to appreciate where achievement is scored
Stop politisizing development.Bear in mind that development plans of this magnitude take long to start and later on yield results. If you continue looking at serious developemental programs with a political eye, then forget about develo[pment in this country where some even want to put embeciles as presidents and ministers.
# 9 ulichisushi wabe t.o.l.e
 This is good news for Zambia as a whole but while this project may be socially lucrative, I am not 100% sure it will yield the same results economically. Therefore, Kavindele and his US partners have to guard against there strategic plans to ensure that the rail line does not turn into a white elephant.
This is the kind of development i like to hear about, long term and bringing alot of oportunities for Zambians and by Zambians. Not the boosheet by Hitachi and 20 zambians employed and you MMD maggots start praising RB. Its time we supported our very own Zambians, rather than bringing fake investors. Am sure if Kavindele left MMD today this project would die a natural death due to the government squeezing him.
#9 Some people enjoy suffering, they admire what they see happening in other countries.
Kavindele, when you where denied an opportunity to take up this project, you wanted to challenge Kunda.then RB, corrupted you with the offer and you gave up. Its Good that you hav decided to go that way but I hope you will not come back into politics because while we appreciate what ur doing,we also know your true colors. It is important to be decided in life.If Kav wanted to be a VP, he should have gone for it instead of foolling people that he wanted to serve them when infact he was after money.This is the biggest problem with most(if not ALL) leaders in ZB. I for one do not appreciate this whole project because it was done in bad faith.It is like having a father who steals to feed his children!!!
I HEAR THE ONLY TRAIN THAT HAS MOVE ON THE MUCHINJI RAILWAY IS THE ON THAT RB AND MUTARIKA USED WHEN COMMISSIONING THE RAILWAY LAST YEAR……
This is very good news. How I wish all the prominent people in Zambia (they are so many) could come up with development projects to really develop the country. Unfortunately at the moment most of the prominent people in Zambia are only very active in jaw jaw matches.
Mushota since when did you start opening up your canal of pleasure to senior citizen and chief bootlicker? I ask because am at lose of words, your reasoning these days leaves a lot to be desired. You are an intelligent young lady no doubt about it it’s just that nowadays you seem to be suffering from political eye cataract.
breaking news: 25th AUGUST IS ELECTION DATE
Leaks from the Electoral Commission of Zambia (ECZ) have disclosed that 25th August has been picked as the ideal date to hold the elections. The date has been advised to the President and remains with him to announce.
The source disclosed further that ECZ liaised with the Speaker earlier this week who advised that Parliament would be dissolved on the 24th of this month (June).
25th August therefore remains within the constitutional requirement that a new Parliament needs to be in place within 90 days
 jabulani gulumule,#9.Keep on dreaming and never return to Zambia. You are a foo.lÂ
Our students says good on you Mr Kavindele. They agree with most of what Mushota has said.
This is very good development and is welcome but lets face facts
There’s a rail line all the way from the Copper-belt down to Livingstone and through to our neighboring countries in the southern part of Zambia but how many tonnes of copper are moved on it as compared to the tonnage that is moved on trucks?
Tazara rail line connects you to Dar-le-saalem but how many trucks do we see coming overloaded with goods from Tanzania if really the rail line is good alternative
Something is wrong somewhere
we need change and real change
Be careful with American investment. These people are capitalist and will do anything to secure there investment.
500 million USD is a lot of money, I am sure the govt co-signed it. I am pretty sure the govt’s credit rating will tank the loan.
Bravo EK! Make sure this project takes off and every Zambian benefits from it.
To be honest this investment is worth it. Its a good project because it promotes development. May I just advise Mr Kavindele to get all the feasibility,engineering, demand/market, operational & revenue risks properly & fully adressed. Secondly the $500m seems not adequate for a stretch of 405km. This $1,235,000 per Km = K5.5billion approx = cost of road. Remember that there is communication infrastrcuture, stations to be built. Bridges to be built where the rail line crosses rivers & where it passes in unstable areas. Does this $500m include purchase of wagons/locomotives/coaches or is it for construction only and if so what is the arrangement for financing the operational phase. Its worth having anwers to these questions and if answers are there then well done Mr Kavindele and keep it up.
We shall buy it from the privateers because this should have been a national project towards a proper national railway network for both cargo and human transport. Sadly, the MMD are only interested in private deals such as this one because those ministers with trucks that were running copper ore from NW province see themselves being kicked out anyway.
I’m not very happy with American Investment.Remember wherever an American is,an
Alkada Terrorist will be hunting them down.I hope Zambia does not experience the bombs that rocked Tanzania and Kenya.God forbid.
#22, the rail line from the copperbelt to Lusaka is in very bad shape and transporters cannot risk to use it because of high risk of accidents and delays. Government accepted a raw concession deal from rail systems due to inexperience of the negotiating team. I commend Dr Kenneth Kaunda because he had limited haulage of heavy good to the rail as a way of preserving roads. The current crop of leaders pays more attention to poilitics of attacking each other as opposed to focussing on real issues of development that affect the business and sustainibility. Infact the success of Mr Kavindeles rail project may be affected the the poor state of the existing rail as it would affect rail continuty upon reaching chingola because transporters would not want to use the existing rail line.
They have managed to shut up this man next time you will see him dancing for RB at the airport remeber not too long ago the way he was attacking the mmd leadership
after all is said and done, what can pf do apart from criticising? please watch out, the green flies are looking for mouths that cannot close.
Well done MMD. This is a good project. RB you secured EK what he wanted. Its my hope that Kavindele does not find himself doing something silly to embarrass Zambia. This man was behind the downfall of Union Bank, impregnated his girlfriend and extended by impregnating his PA as well – who was the best friend of his girlfriend, while the wife was at home.
This is the man that left his teenage daughter struggling in a London Council Flat while serving as a Vice President.
No 2 Mushota, I hope EK hasn’t seen you skimpy panties (as he like ‘em young like you! Anyway, he is a grown up man these days and wouldn’t even glance at you! Shooo!
On a serious note, As for the rail line, it is fantastic that a Zambian entrepreneur has started this project single headedly! Shows you that Zambians are capable of pulling big deals such as this one! For our young readers, you may wish to know EK was one of the first businessmen to bring in big brands such as this: He had a franchise for IBM when no one on this blog had used a PC (let alone a laptop)! He bought and sold Woodgate House 2 times and went almost bankrupt almost 2 and came back from the brink! He is mercurial! Only FTJ or Don King beats him (100 criminal cases and all of the acquitted) Welcome to Woodgate Holdings Limited!
job creation right there
If
North Western Province now produces about 66 percent of the country’s copper and 4000 jobs are expected to be created from the project that will largely be financed by the American company,then its a smart business decision on Kavindele’s part.
This deal was given to EK to ensure he delivers votes, stop being critical to RB. This was why from nowhere he was praising RB and MMD. Above all its a very fantastic development that we should all be happy about. Unless if you are PF.
20% will go to to james banda, otherwise this deal is a non starter! If i was EK, i would wait and seal this after the elections (erections as we zedians say it!).
EK is a scammer. He wants pipo to vote 4 MMD in that province. The province is the 2nd strong hold 4 UPND. Cheap politics, this project is going nowhere. He failed 2 complete finbury park. WAT A LOCAL INVESTOR!!!!!!!!
The project is ambitious and the money involved is huge. I hope the feasibility studies have been done to compare the costs and benefits otherwise it will just end up on the signing of MOU.
This is good news. At a time when international companies are tightening belts and investing wisely, they need to be sure that there are no spoilers where they invest. The spoilers are: 1. Erratic head of state who is inconsistent. 2. Corruption. 3. Command economy with regulations that limit externalisation of profits. 4. Violence. 5. Bad Governance and human right abuses. 6. Arbitrary statements issued against the rule of law.
Long may these spoilers be kept out of Zambia!
The only positive and sensible comment i have heard fro this Mushota.i wonder whether you are a Zambian
Kavindele is a very smart guy. This company will reap huge returns the NWR investment, especially once connected to Angola. I guess Kavindele is the only Zambian to attract such huge investment. These American investors really have confidence in this guy.
Some good news but surely are we supposed to be excited coz its only a Memorandum of Understanding nothing legally binding until then my cup is half full
Mushota. Is that the English you learnt at International School?Â
Kavindele is not a factor in NorthWestern Provincve politics. That is history . Last time he was beaten hands down by young and political starter Daniel Kalenga current Deputy Minitser, NorthWestern. The njanji is good for business not only for Kavindele but Zambia as a whole. If you check those heavy duty trucks transporting copper ore from Solwezi to Copperbelt are foreign owned and just registred in Zambia. They are damaging our roads, causing unnecessary accidents and not adding value to the lives of people along the way. I hope Kavindele will avoid getting involved in regional politics and concentrate on the Railway Project. He was there as Veep what did do for the N/Wesern Province to be remembered for. Lucas Chikoti is better coz he raises serious issues when need arises.
this is the development we want..work well mwata..viva vote 20HH..