NRZ on positive path amid increased Government support

Acting Business Editor

THE National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) is on a positive trajectory as the major shareholder, the Government, has shown renewed interest in supporting the key parastatal, Board chairman Advocate Martin Dinha has said.

In his 2021 annual report statement presented during the Annual General Meeting in Bulawayo on Monday, Advocate Dinha noted that the new dispensation under President Mnangagwa’s engagement and reengagement efforts has presented several opportunities for growth which it continues to pursue.

“The outlook is positive as the shareholder has shown a new interest to support NRZ and seeks to benchmark major strides and developments towards realisation of an upper middle-income economy by 2030,” reads part of the report.

He said the critical role of NRZ as an economic enabler will entail increasing capacity of freight from 2.5 million to 6.5 million tonnes by 2025 and improvement of the passenger train services.

Advocate Dinha highlighted that in the period under review, NRZ realised a comprehensive profit of $277 billion compared to a net loss of $3.4 billion in the prior year.

“The favourable position was due to the fair value gain on property and equipment realised after carrying out the asset revaluation exercise.”

However, he noted that cash inflows generated were insufficient to meet the organisation’s obligations in accumulation of creditors balances.

“The balance sheet position continue to be affected by conversion losses emanating from legacy foreign loans that were taken by the organisation in the 1990s.

“We continue to implore the shareholder to consider taking over this foreign debt because it continues to have a negative knock-on effect on our balance sheet,” he said.