S. Africa govt tests market appetite for rail investment
South Africa’s Department of Transport has launched a Request for Information (RFI) to test private sector interest in developing rail and port infrastructure.
Transport Minister Barbara Creecy announced the launch of the online RFI portal at the weekend, noting that parties will have until 9 May to make submissions.
The information received is wholly-intended to inform a tender process for private sector participation projects which are anticipated to be launched in August this year.
Creecy said the RFI comes after her department and state-owned logistics company, Transnet, received various unsolicited proposals from the private sector, offering varied forms of support for the reform of the country’s ailing rail networks and ports.
“This overwhelming interest made it clear to the department and Transnet we must engage in broad and inclusive market research before issuing requests for proposals in August this year,” Creecy said during a briefing.
“Government recognises the importance of understanding the freight and logistics landscape through the perspective of interested and affected parties, so that our solutions are both effective and sustainable.”
The RFI will test market interest for participating in various parts of the logistics chain in key parts of the rail and ports systems.
Namely, the e Northern Cape-to-Saldanha Bulk Minerals Corridor and the Northern Cape-to-Nelson Mandela Bay Corridor, which primarily transport iron ore and manganese exports respectively; and the Richards Bay Bulk Minerals Corridor, which is a key export channel for coal and chrome exports from Limpopo and Mpumalanga, and through which magnetite is also exported.
“The whole purpose of this is to allow for interested and affected parties to respond to any aspects of it (the RFI). It is very broad. It is deliberately intended to be very broad and comprehensive so that anyone and everyone who has an interest can participate in the process,” Creecy said.
Creecy said work to establish a Private Sector Participation (PSP) unit is well advanced and awaits the conclusion of a Memorandum of Agreement with the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) and the National Treasury, with DBSA appointed as the host institution for the unit.