NLPI
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
 |
This article or section needs to be wikified to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please help improve this article with relevant internal links. (April 2008) |
 |
This article may require cleanup to meet Wikipedia's quality standards. Please improve this article if you can. (April 2008) |
 |
This article does not cite any references or sources. (April 2008) Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources. Unverifiable material may be challenged and removed. |
| This article may not meet the notability guidelines for companies and organizations. If you are familiar with the subject matter, please expand or rewrite the article to establish its notability. The best way to address this concern is to reference published, third-party sources about the subject. If notability cannot be established, the article is more likely to be considered for redirection, merge or ultimately deletion, per Wikipedia:Guide to deletion. This article has been tagged since April 2008. |
NLPI Limited (NLPI) is an investment-holding company, registered in Mauritius, whose main investment focus is infrastructure-related projects on the continent of Africa. The Nedbank, Old Mutual and Sanlam Groups, all major South African financial institutions, are partnered by the shareholders of NLPI, together with New Limpopo Bridge Projects Limited (NLP), an investment company controlled by Mr. Mordechai Tager and Mr. Zion Elani, both entrepreneurs with extensive project development experience. With a cumulative market capitalization exceeding US$15 billion, all NLPI shareholders are experienced in financial engineering, management, implementation and operation of infrastructure-related projects.
The need for private sector participation on infrastructure projects in Southern Africa was identified in 1993, by Mr. Mordechai Tager and Mr. Zion Elani. This ultimately resulted in the commissioning of NLPI’s first B.O.T. project, the New Limpopo Bridge, operating under its subsidiary company namely, New Limpopo Bridge (Pvt) Ltd.
NLPI has already invested US$130 million in the construction and rehabilitation of a 1,613 kilometre rail corridor stretching from South Africa, through Zimbabwe and Zambia, up to the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). The Corridor is the main hub for southbound raw materials hauled from the developing countries to South Africa and finished products railed northbound. It is the most important rail link connecting SADC (Southern African Development Community) members to regional ports and serves as a lifeline to the economies of the region. NLPI's control of the entire Corridor creates a unique opportunity for efficient rail operation with uninterrupted seamless service to a vast clientele.
The Corridor was created by the implementation of three rail projects, each owned and operated by a different subsidiary company:
- Implemented in Zimbabwe on a B.O.T. basis by Beitbridge-Bulawayo Railway (Pvt) Ltd (BBR), the US$85 million, 350-kilometre railway line from Beitbridge to Bulawayo, once only a dream and now a reality, was commissioned on the 1st September 1999. It was built in record time, with the construction phase lasting only 18 months.
- Implemented by Railway Systems of Zambia Limited (RSZ), the Zambia Concession, stretching almost 1,200 kilometres, covers the entire area between Sakania (on the DRC border) and Victoria Falls, including the Copperbelt and other branch lines. NLPI participated in a World Bank tender for the Zambia Railways Concession and was declared the winner with the signing of the Freight and Passenger Concession Agreements in February and August 2003 respectively.
- Completing the whole Corridor, the third project was implemented in February 2004 by NLPI Logistics (NLPI-L), a rail logistics services provider. NLPI Logistics has acquired marketing rights for Zimbabwe's North Line, the 470-kilometre section between Beitbridge and Victoria Falls.
NLPI's shareholders are also involved with an US$18 million investment in New Limpopo Bridge (Pvt) Ltd (NLB), an NLPI affiliated company, which under a B.O.T. concession agreement constructed and presently operates a toll bridge over the Limpopo River. This state of the art bridge, commissioned by the Presidents of South Africa and Zimbabwe in 1995, provides an essential modern link between South Africa and Zimbabwe.
NLPI projects, and the regional implementation of the B.O.T. concept, are considered milestones in private sector involvement in promoting and developing infrastructure-related projects in the SADC region.
NLPI is one of the largest private rail operators in Africa, with a private fleet of rolling stock consisting of more than 4,500 wagons of different types as well as more than 100 locomotives. It employs more than 3,000 people along the Corridor, both directly and indirectly. They are comprised of top calibre, highly skilled, personnel from the region, together with international staff.
