Zimbabwe’s state-owned railway operator is seeking a $115 million financing facility with the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) to purchase locomotives and wagons and expand its freight-haulage capacity, an official said on Thursday.
The National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ), which operates under the country’s sovereign wealth fund, Mutapa Investment Fund, is seeking the financing for 10 locomotives and 315 wagons, the fund’s Chief Executive Officer, John Mangudya, said.
He added that part of the funds would be used to rehabilitate sections of the railway infrastructure.
Mangudya spoke as NRZ commissioned three locomotives and 100 wagons refurbished under a partnership with Zimasco, the Zimbabwean ferrochrome unit of China’s Sinosteel.
NRZ has struggled for years due to inadequate government investment and has increased partnerships with private logistics companies to raise freight volumes.
Freight volumes fell from a peak of 12 million tonnes in the 1990s to about two million tonnes in 2025.
On July 21, NRZ announced that it had begun transporting lithium concentrate by rail to Maputo port in Mozambique in partnership with private operators. The arrangement provides a cheaper transport option for the mining industry, which currently relies largely on road haulage to move minerals to ports.
Mangudya said NRZ requires about $600 million to modernise its rolling stock and upgrade its railway network.
