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Chinese Contractor Completes 105km Railway Upgrade in Namibia

by Cobus van Staden

China Gezhouba Group Corp (CGGC) finished a 107.5km upgrade of a rail line between the Namibian harbor Walvis Bay and the central logistics hub of Arandis on time, despite materials shortages and COVID-related delays. The upgrade doubles transport speeds on the line.

The project is an interesting counterexample to troubled rail deals like in Pakistan (see above) and Kenya in that it’s jointly funded by the Namibian government and the African Development Bank (not Chinese lenders) and CGGC was only assigned part of the upgrade, with the rest going to a joint venture between the Chinese companies Qingjiang Group and Unik Construction Engineering.

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