AFRICAN RAIL PRIVATISATION GAINS MOMENTUM

Ten years ago, no African country was seriously considering privatisation of its railway. The speed and scope of change during the 1990s has been remarkable. In 1995 alone, ten railways, mostly in French-speaking Africa, began to move towards private management. Today, 21 of Africa's 34 railways are at some stage along the road to privatisation; five African countries have now fully privatised their railways. The impetus for rail privatisation in Africa came first from the World Bank, which in the late 1980s challenged African railways to operate more commercially. It was continued by governments and donors worried by a steady decline in performance. There was also a stimulus from the existence of successful privatisation models in other parts of the world, and the availability of agencies willing and able to support the process of change. This article discusses the progress and process of privatising African railways. It includes a table summarising the current status of African railways, together with figures for main lines (km), freight tonne-km, passenger-km, and revenue ($US). One of the problems has been to overcome a culture of national control, so that authority can be delegated and managers can be empowered. African rail privatisation has had many problems, but opens up new opportunities for governments.