When the State House in Malawi announced that President Dr. Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera would be visiting Mozambique in October 2020, his third international trip outside Malawi four months after his election in June 2020, very few Malawians saw the importance of the visit.

Prior to Chakwera’s election, Malawi and Mozambique did not enjoy healthy relationship owing to a number of reasons. The fragility of this relationship became worse during the Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) administration when former president Bingu wa Mutharika wanted to cut corners in the implementation of the Nsanje Inland Port.

The historical election of Chakwera in the June 23, 2020, Fresh Presidential Election therefore set Malawi on a path to mending the strained relationship to ensure the people of the two Southern African countries are benefitting from each other’s natural resources.

During his first visit to Maputo, the Malawi leader emphasized to his Mozambican counterpart, President Filipe Nyusi, the significance of reviving and strengthening diplomatic ties between Lilongwe and Maputo.

The two presidents also discussed areas of mutual interest in the enhancement of bilateral relations between Malawi and the Mozambique.

During the solidarity visit, apart from holding bilateral talks with Mozambican president, Chakwera drummed up support for the development of the Malawi’s rail infrastructure.

Chakwera stated that his administration recognizes the potential to revolutionise the transportation sector through reduced costs, especially when moving cargo.

“A better rail network will help us reduce transport costs, lower commodity prices, and increase profits for our producers,” said Chakwera.

Amid growing doubts about the country’s capacity to revive the rail transport, Chakwera declared that revamping Malawi’s railway network remains a top priority for his administration.

His determination has now started bearing fruits. The recent investments in the rail sector have created a buzz of excitement from many and sundry. The revival of the rail networks, which were neglected and brought to rot for the past 30 years, is highly commendable.

Using rail for transportation of bulk weight and dry cargo is a very positive initiative as it has proven, globally, to be the most cost effective and efficient way of doing so. The following are the potential economic impacts fuel haulage by rail:

1. Overall reduction by an estimated 40% on the cost of transportation of fuel. This may lead to reduction of fuel prices at the pumps.

2. Lessened pressure on our road infrastructure. As a result there will be increased savings on road repairs and maintenance since there will be less damage through the reduction of road haulage by trucks.

3. Increased security and stability of fuel supply into the country since trains are less prone to breakdowns.

4. Increased job creation in the rail sector since rail is a labour intensive system.

5. Increased economic activity along the rail networks through revival of train stations.

6. Increase job creation in allied industries such as product distributors including small scale transporters, processors, storage, wholesalers and retailers, brokers, insurance, security.

7. In short, rail systems are massively suited for job creation, industrialisation and economic growth. Most developed countries catapulted their economic growth by investing in rail networks first.

The National Oil Company of Malawi (NOCMA) is one of the beneficiaries of the investment made in the rail sector, as the revamping of the rail transport has helped the company to diversify its import routes.

NOCMA Chief Executive Officer Clement Kanyama said by December 2023, company increased volume to 11.4 percent of fuel hauled through rail transport from 0 percent in 2020.

Kanyama said there are prospects that NOCMA will achieve 30 percent use of rail towards fuel imports soon.

“Towards this goal, the Malawi Government through Ministry of Energy is engaging Mozambique Government on a plan to leverage on. We are also exploring the use of lower priced pipeline infrastructure from Beira – Feruka- Msasa, which is currently not operational,” he said.

Kanyama said this aligns with the vision of President Dr. Lazarus McCarthy Chakwera and his administration to revamp the rail infrastructure in an effort to reduce the cost of transporting goods and services to and from outside Malawi.

Speaking after receiving 20 wagons of fuel, with each loading around 40, 000 litres, NOCMA’s Depot Manager Michael Malanga said from August 2023 to June 2024 alone, the depot has received 23 million litres of diesel via the train.

“As NOCMA, we are having a number of initiatives to implement Malawi 2063, and one of them is to diversify our means of transporting fuel into the country. So apart from getting fuel through the road, we are also getting fuel from Nacala through rail transport,” he said.

Meanwhile NOCMA has announced that the first train carrying 16 tank wagons loaded with diesel will be arriving at Kanengo NOCMA Fuel Depot on Tuesday morning.

This follows the reopening of the Nkaya – Lilongwe route after the Central East African Railways (CEAR) successfully rehabilitated the railway line.

Subsequent fuel trains will continue bringing fuel to Lilongwe from Nacala Port.

Currently, CEAR is rehabilitating the railway line between Lilongwe and Mchinji in order to open connectivity by railway to Nacala Port for Zambia.