Railways Africa

Business at Kumba station, about 120km north-west of Douala in Cameroon, “nosedived”, says station manager Bille Roger, after the main road was tarred. Currently, he explained to local reporters Peter Efande and Asong Sylvester, there is only one trainset in use on the line. It comprises a locomotive, one goods wagon, two passenger coaches and [...]

In 1999, the French Bolloré group gained a 20-year concession to manage Régie Nationale des Chemins de fer (RNCF – the state railway of Cameroon). Bolloré also manages Cameroon’s main container terminal at the port of Douala, and it is vying for the concession of another terminal at the new Kribi deep-sea port which is [...]

Afferro Mining has been talking to the Cameroon government over its possible participation in the financing of the special purpose vehicle that is being set up to develop the railway being built to serve Sundance Resources’ Mbalam iron ore project. According to Afferro, the Cameroon authorities have said third party access to the line will [...]

On 10 February, Cameroon’s economy, planning and regional development minister Emmanuel Nganou Djoumessi revealed a national railway master plan. It dovetails with government objectives to transform the country into an “emerging economy” by 2035. The plan was prepared in partnership with South Korea’s Korpec and Chunsuk Engineering company. Cameroon’s existing railway extends some 987km on [...]

Environmental approval for the Mbalam mine, railway and Lolabe port project in Cameroon was granted in 2010. The government has now declared the extent of land along the rail corridor which it intends to acquire so that the line can be built. No further property transactions or construction will be permitted in this strip.

The CSR Nanjing Puzhen Rolling Stock Company Ltd is to supply 38 railway carriages to the Cameroon National Railway Corporation (CNRC). The new rolling stock is to comprise day coaches, sleepers, diners and baggage vans. Cameroon has three metre-gauge trunk railways with a total length of 1,173km. CNRC’s carriages are antiquated and yet to be [...]

Legend Mining managing director Mark Wilson has announced encouraging results from drilling at the Ngovayang Project in Cameroon. He is quoted saying: “These drill results confirm the large scale and high quality potential of the Ngovayang Project, particularly when you consider the high grade (plus 70% iron) and low impurity magnetite concentrate we reported earlier [...]

According to permanent secretary at Cameroon’s economy ministry Paul Tasong, a group of South Korean companies is to draw up a plan to expand the country’s rail network. Rail connections are needed to infrastructure projects such as the Lom Panga hydroelectric reservoir in the east and the Memve’ele hydroelectric project in the south, as well [...]

CRCC China-Africa Construction Limited (CAC) and Sundance Resources Ltd (Sundance) have entered into a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) to establish the scope, cost and delivery programme for the railway track and rolling stock needed to support Sundance’s Mbalam Project in Cameroon and Congo, West Africa. The MOU binds the parties to work together to establish: [...]

A South Korean consortium is to undertake feasibility studies and produce a national railway master plan for Cameroon, in terms of a 13-month contract signed on 10 September between the ministry of the economy, planning, and regional development (MINEPAT) on one hand, and the Korea Port Engineering Corporation, Chung-Suk Engineering company Limited, the Korea Transport [...]