Dakar-Bamako Railway

Concluded

In March 2003, a Canadian-French Consortium Canac-Getma was awarded a 25 year concession to operate and maintain the 1270 km Dakar-Bamako railroad, with an option to renew for another 10-year period. The Dakar-Bamako railroad until now was jointly operated by the Senegalese National Rail Corporation (SNFCS) and Malian National Rail Corporation (SCFM), in Senegal and Mali, both in West Africa. During the SNCFS/SCFM concession, each company maintained and navigated the rail link to the joint border, but it was inefficient. Poor infrastructure also limited the efficiency of the Dakar-Bamako railroad. So under the new contract, the consortium agreed invest over US$55.40 million to upgrade and dilapidated line, new rolling stock and locomotives during the first five years of the contract. This concession contract was awarded through competitive bidding process. The Canac-Getma consortium’s bid was chosen ahead of a rival bid submitted by a consortium comprising French National Railway (SNCFI), Bollore, Maersk, Canarail, and Comzar. Canac-Getma had 51% ownership and the remaining 49% of shares was split between the two participating countries (10% to each), the employees of the new company (9%), and private shareholders (20%). The objective of this concession was to increase the efficiency of the railway network between the two countries, enhance services offered to users and make sure that the states would not have to make up for financial losses caused by the railway. http://www.cpcstrans.com/ http://www.canac.com/ http://www.getma.fr/