Zambia’s Northwest Rail announced that it has secured USD 500 million for the first phase of a railway linking Zambia’s copperbelt to the Angolan border, in a project that aims to extend the line to Angola’s coast. The first phase of the rail link would connect Zambia’s old Chingola copper fields to the newer mines at Kansanshi, Lumwana and Kalumbila.
South Africa’s Grindrod and other shareholders will put up the equity, and several banks would provide the larger debt portion, according to the announcement of Northwest Rail.
Grindrod was contracted to build, operate and maintain the 590 km railway in February 2014 by Northwest Rail, which won exclusive rights from the state to develop the line. “It will be a mix of 70% debt and 30% equity and both the debt and equity for the first phase are now in place,” Northwest Rail’s chairperson Enoch Kavindele said.
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