Namibia’s railway company, TransNamib, has been allocated N$320 million in the 2025/26 budget for the ongoing exercise to improve efficiencies and stem infrastructure and operational challenges, Minister of Finance, Ericah Shafudah has revealed.
Overall, the transport sector will receive a total of N$2.7 billion during the 2025/2026 financial year, the minister disclosed.
Furthermore, Shafudah said that in addition to fast-tracking the upgrading of the railway network, this allocation also caters for the completion of ongoing road construction projects, including rural feeder roads to schools and clinics.
Over the next three years, the transport sector will receive N$6.9 billion. Shafudah disclosed that the vote will also benefit from dedicated external loans for upgrading the Kranzberg- Otjiwarongo railway section as well as various roads.
Budget documents added that the funding to the transport infrastructure is aimed at supporting the Phase II expansion of the railway between Kranzberg and Otjiwarongo, as well as the supply of rail materials for the Otjiwarongo-Tsumeb section.
The African Development Bank has said the proposed railway upgrade Project from Kranzberg to Tsumeb Station and Otavi to Grootfontein Station ties in with the proposed Trans-Zambezi Railway extension from Grootfontein to Katima Mulilo via Rundu in Namibia, for which a feasibility study has recently been completed.
The bank said the result of the feasibility study indicates the favourability and importance of this multinational Project. It further states that this railway extension is part of a cross-border railway connection between Namibia and Zambia, which aims to link mines in the Copperbelt region (Zambia and Democratic Republic of Congo [DRC]) with the port of Walvis Bay in Namibia.
The Namibian transport and storage sector is estimated to register a marginal slow growth in 2024 compared to a higher growth in 2023, according to the 2025/2026 estimates of expenditure.
The finance ministry said the growth in the transport sector is attributed to improved economic activities, moderating international fuel price, increased port cargo handling for mines and regional trade activities. The transport sector is expected to grow further in 2025 and 2026.
The growth is attributed to anticipated increase in twenty-foot equivalent unit (TEU), to be handled on account of the new container terminal operator as they liaison with international markets to make use of the Namibian port, rising import activities as well the expected increase in construction activities, the documents showed.
Written By Chamwe Kaira
