Most southern and east African countries are pushing for rail renaissance‘ assuming that new rail investments will automatically result in transfer of traffic from road to rail. Not enough on the ground research has been done to investigate what type of transport provision best suits the viability of small and medium enterprises. As a result, rail investments proceed with invariably inflated forecasts of demand. Andrew Marsay, Transport Economist will dispense his views on 'Threats to South Africa‘s mega rail investment programme' at the 3rd Annual African Railway Summit.

Based on the current progress of the African Railway projects the 3rd edition will not only focus on the current projects in the African region but will also discuss their viability. Chief Executive Officer of Walvis Bay Corridor Group, Johny M. Smith will inform the summit attendees about 'The Trans-Kalahari Corridor: railway line from the Port of Walvis Bay to Gobabis'. Johny will talk about the boost in trade in Botswana and how it will turn the country into a regional trade hub. He will also speak about the benefits to landlocked Southern African Development Community (SADC) countries like Malawi, Zambia and Zimbabwe by providing alternative transportation routes.

Updates on 'Developments in Egyptian National Railways’s Transformation and Restructuring Program' will be provided by Nino Cingolani, Co-Chairman ENR Transformation and Restructuring Program from Egyptian National Railways. Nino will apprise the attendees on developments in high speed, new lines, intermodal centres, new rolling stocks, new technologies, infrastructure build - track renewals, signalling, operation and assets management, freight operations and inter-modality and partnerships with private sector and maintenance and planning materials, operations and systems.

With the current need of fast growing metropolitan areas in Africa, the region is looking forward to have effective and high-capacity public transport systems in place. Developing strategies for expanding national, regional or local rail services and to enhance operations and management entails opportunities for a wide range of industry professionals in Africa.