Written by Desie Heita | From New Era via AllAfrica

A railway line connecting Botswana to the Namibian Atlantic coast is finally about to be developed, following the signing of the agreement between the two countries last week at Bird Island near Walvis Bay. The 1,500 kilometres long railway line would traverse the vast semi-arid, sandy savannah of the Kalahari desert from Botswana to Namibia, with the sole benefit of connecting the land-locked Botswana to Namibia’s port of Walvis Bay, thus unlocking the value of coal mining in Botswana and power generation in the region.

The railway line mirrors the existing Trans-Kalahari Highway or corridor, which links Botswana to the port of Walvis Bay, but stretches 1,900 kilometres from Walvis Bay, through Windhoek, Gaborone in Botswana and Johannesburg to Pretoria in South Africa. The just signed Trans-Kalahari railway agreement includes adding a coal terminal and associated loading facilities to the Namibia-Botswana corridor that would benefit other landlocked Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries like Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe by providing alternative transportation routes.

Signing the agreement were Namibia’s National Planning Commission Director-General, Tom Alweendo and Botswana’s Minister of Minerals, Energy and Water Resources Onkokame Kitso Mokaila. The signing ceremony took place at the exact location where the Namibia Ports Authority (Namport) intends to construct the North Port Bulk Container Terminal. The bulk container terminal would be used to store coal transported via the Trans Kalahari railway, scheduled for completion in 2019.

Construction of the project is expected to cost approximately N$100 billion (about US$9.2 billion). Financing will be sourced through private stakeholders.

Read more at AllAfrica