The state owned BR went into discussions with Spoornet - Africa's biggest rail outfit - 18 months ago for a bi-lateral business agreement that would see Botswana benefiting from business from South Africa.
After a closed-door meeting in Gaborone last year, a joint task team comprising officials from the two organisations was set up to negotiate and agree on various issues. The issues included increasing tonnages on the BR corridor; resource sharing and improving transit container traffic; and general cargo.
BR's director marketing and supply, Taolo Sebonego noted after the signing ceremony that once put in place, the task team reviewed BR and Spoornet business agreements and identified areas of mutual benefit and opportunities for business growth.
"Key to this was the harmonisation of our operations across our two borders with particular focus on fair traffic routing. The meeting also included the participation of our key customers and strategic partners (industry partners) who are the consumers of our service offering and supporters respectively," Sebonego said.
