TransNamib assumes critical position in SARA

CEO of TransNamib Holdings, Titus Haimibili, has been appointed as vice president of  the Southern African Railways Association (SARA). Bernard Dzawanda, the executive director of SARA ceremoniously handed over Haimbili’s letter of appointment at TransNamib’s headquarters in Windhoek on Wednesday.

As vice president, Haimbili says, he wants to focus on securing finance for building  infrastructure by encouraging the governments of member countries to contribute. Furthermore, he wants to convince the banking sector to regard investments in the railway infrastructure as profitable long-term investments and to encourage private enterprises to get involved.

“Investment in rail infrastructure,” he notes, “has ripple effects to the growth of the economy as a whole.” Other objectives are influencing legislation so that railways can compete fairly with roads, and creating employment, especially among young people, thereby alleviating poverty.

Haimbili also wants to see the construction of the 244 kilometer railway track from Tsumeb to Ondangwa completed. These rails are a prestigious project for TransNamib and Namibia as they represent the only investment in railway infrastructure in the SADC area in the past 10 years.

The Southern African Railways Association (SARA) is a nonprofit association of railways in the Southern African Development Community. It aims to promote the business interests of regional railways. It was formed in 1996 to represent the interests of regional railway operators across southern Africa.

Its members include railway operators of Namibia, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Swaziland, Mozambique, Angola, Zambia, Tanzania and Democratic Republic of Congo. In its own words, SARA wants “to be the leader in the promotion of trade, movement of goods and passengers, and a catalyst for economic growth. “In the SADC region.”

TransNamib previously served  in the vice-presidential and presidential roles at SARA in the years 2003/2004 and 2004/2005 respectively.

source: http://www.economist.com.na/