Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) has said in its annual study, ‘State of Africa’s Infrastructure Report 2024’ that expanding and enhancing the rail network under the African Union’s railway plan has yielded limited success thus far.
The report noted that of the proposed 30,200 kilometres of new routes, only 4,000 kilometres have been constructed. The AFC said this target includes 40% of new routes alongside a programme to modernise existing networks.
The Corporation highlighted that while notable successes such as the completion of the 768-kilometre Djibouti-Addis Ababa standard gauge railway (SGR) in 2018 and the 700-kilometre Mombasa-Naivasha SGR between 2017 and 2019 exist, insufficient funding has already hindered the extension of Kenya’s SGR to Uganda and slowed the progress of Tanzania’s planned SGR network, which aims to connect Lake Victoria, Rwanda, and Burundi.
The report said that based on the cost of recently constructed lines on the continent, this could amount to between US$65 billion to US$105 billion annually until 2050, solely to bridge the railway infrastructure gap.
The AFC added that private investment in railway infrastructure has remained relatively low, hovering around the US$5 billion to US$6 billion range during both the 2002-2012 and 2012-2022 periods, according to World Bank data.
Recent projects that have progressed and attracted capital continue to rely on a traditional Pit-to-Port model, exemplified by initiatives such as the TransGuinean Railways in Guinea or the Pepel-Tonkolili Railway and Pepel Port in Sierra Leone, the report said.
AFC said while these projects contribute to the growth of African economies by boosting export revenues, they often direct private sector interest towards single-purpose lines rather than investments in cross-border ventures that could better foster inclusive domestic and regional growth. It noted that one exception is the Lobito Corridor connecting the Congo DRC, Zambia, and Angola. The Africa Finance Corporation, as the lead developer of the Zambia-Lobito component, aims to construct an economic corridor connecting three important countries.
The report said challenges facing African railways include neglect, underfunding, and declining traffic, which perpetuates a negative cycle of underinvestment. It cited the example of Ghana, where the rail network transported approximately two million tonnes of cocoa, timber, bauxite, manganese and other minerals in the late 1960s. However, by 2018, only roughly 750,000 tonnes of manganese freight were transported by rail. Similarly, the Senegal-Mali railway, which once transported 1.5 million tonnes of freight at its peak, ceased operations entirely in 2018 following floods.
The report noted that among the busiest networks in Africa, alongside South Africa and Eswatini, are Mauritania, Gabon and Mozambique.
The AFC said while regional integration efforts have commenced in southern and eastern Africa through the construction of new rail lines and the extension of existing tracks, rail integration in the west is largely absent.
It said achieving connectivity in this region would depend on initiatives such as the reopening of the Dakar-Bamako line and the extension of the Togo line and the Abidjan-Ouagadougou line to create a ring through Niger.
By Chamwe Kaira
