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The National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) general manager Respina Zinyanduko has lamented the lack of adequate funding from government,adding that it was hampering the company’s performance.
The NRZ GM made the remarks while appearing before Parliament’s portfolio committee on transport on Monday.
Zinyanduko said that the money that was being disbursed to the entity by the government was not enough to sustain it’s operations as it was being eroded by inflation.
”Other governments such as Mozambique, South Africa, Namibia, Tanzania, Kenya and lately Zambia are funding their railway companies, while, in Zimbabwe what little money is coming from the government is being eroded by inflation.
In 2022, NRZ was allocated Z$2 billion which as at date of allocation was equivalent to US$20 million but now it is equivalent around to US$3 million and the money is still to be disbursed,” Zinyanduko said.
The NRZ boss added that the lack of capitalisation had seen business dropping at an alarming rate over the years.
“Lack of recapitalisation in both equipment and infrastructure has affected the company’s performance, which has seen business volumes coming down from the 12 million tonnes it used to move annually in the 1990s to the current level of 2.3 million tonnes,” Zinyanduko told the legislators.
The NRZ has been posting Operating surpluses for the last 3 years. However, this surplus is diluted by the conversion losses being incurred on foreign loans which the Government had pledged to take overflowing the promulgation of the Railways Amendment Act number 19 of 1997.
The company has been operating at low capacity due to ageing equipment whcih needs replacement.
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