South African logistics group Transnet has bid to recapitalise National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) with $400 million, the State Procurement Board (SPB) said on Tuesday.
NRZ is saddled with a debt of $200 million and has gone for months without paying its workers as Zimbabwe’s experiences a serious dollar crunch and electricity shortages.
Transnet made the bid jointly with Diaspora Investment Group, a group of Zimbabwean investors living abroad, the SPB said at its offices in the capital Harare.
The board also said Malaysia’s SMH Railway has bid to spend $100.7 million to refurbish locomotives for NRZ, while the Zimbabwean operations of chartered accountants group Crowe Horwath International said it could secure funding of up to $2.5 billion for the state railway company.
In another bid, local firm Croyeaux Pvt Ltd said it would be able to organise $700 million in debt to recapitalise NRZ.
“Within the next coming 10 days we should actually be able to come up with a recommendation as to who the winning bidder is,” NRZ chairman Larry Mavhima told reporters after the opening of six bids.
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“What we are looking for is an investment in NRZ, whether its in debt form or equity and its not about buying a certain number of locomotives only,” Mavhima said.
Source Reuters