Road transporters are already crying foul over the Nacala rail project which is currently taking shape in Mozambique claiming loss of business as most importers now prefer using rail to transport their goods.
The Nacala corridor project is being implemented in the northern part of Mozambique and connects Nacala from Moatize in Mozambique. The corridor provides Malawi with a more direct outlet to the sea.
Road Transport Association of Malawi 2016 president, Sameer Suleman, said the sector is at risk of extinction as increased rail traffic on the corridor will drive them out of business.
“It is going to put some of us out of business as rail is cheaper than road transport. The effects are not currently being felt, though, as the cargo moving on rail is not much to cause alarm to us,” he said.
He, however ,said some transporters plying their trade on the Nacala route are already complaining.
“In the long term, this will not be good for the road transport sector,” he said.
One of the transporters, Abdul Hammid Khan, said the rail line has taken almost all the consignments that were being hauled by the road transporters.
He said importers are going for the rail transport because it is cheaper and carries bigger consignments.
“Currently, the rates have been reduced. Road transporters seem to be expensive as we spend more on our vehicles and we can only recover by pegging our prices a bit higher than the rail,” said Khan.
He further said the cake has now become smaller as imported cargo cannot manage to support all the local transporters.
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