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Will cooperate on jointly supplying freight wagons to Africa’s narrow-gauge market
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United Wagon Company will consider subcontracting their Africa orders to TMH Africa
Johannesburg South Africa: TMH Africa, a subsidiary of the TMH Group (the 4th largest rolling stock manufacturer worldwide) and the United Wagon Company (UWC, one of the biggest rolling stock manufacturers) have signed an Africa wide framework agreement for the development of an industrial partnership.
This is a first of its kind and will see the two entities partner to jointly service the Africa market for supplying freight wagons for the narrow-gauge.
Under this industrial partnership, parties agreed to cooperate in the field of freight wagon supply. UWC will get the right to contract its orders and those of their customers in Africa to TMH Africa under best available terms and conditions. These orders will be implemented by TMH Africa at their Boksburg facility and can include manufacturing, assembly, maintenance of freight wagons and components. TMH Africa’s 64 000 sqm facility has a rich history and legacy of manufacturing, servicing, and refurbishing rolling stock for over 100 years. It has over 200 employees and it is the center of excellence for the narrow-gauge products within the TMH Group.
“This is a big milestone for TMH Africa as it will further support our pursuit to service the African market out of South Africa. It recognises our narrow gauge and bogie expertise and will result in increased workload, increased export revenues and position South Africa as “Thee” rail manufacturing hub for the region,” notes TMH Africa CEO, Jerome Boyet.
He says the expertise in freight vehicles that UWC brings to the party coupled with TMH Africa’s local and the TMH Group’s global rolling stock expertise position this partnership as one that will add value to the revitalization of the freight rail network in the continent.
“We believe in Africa as a market within which we can share our experiences for the mutual benefit of all parties. TMH is the ideal partner to grow our Africa presence that provides opportunities to optimize deliveries through local assembly and maintenance operations”, says UWC Sales Director, Ivan Mikhalevich.
He adds that the narrow-gauge network is an enabler for increasing the volumes of freight that is migrated from road to rail. A big part of untapping this potential is the ensuring of a consistent supply of world class freight wagons and their components. This is the value that this partnership will deliver to the public and private sector customers.
UWC is the one of the largest rolling stock manufacturing company globally with production capacities of more than 20 000 freight wagons per year.
“We are humbled by the realisation of this partnership which in our two years of existence, affirms our commitment to Africa. It further aligns our growth aspirations and priorities with those of the country and the continent and affords the opportunity to make a contribution towards enabling intra Africa trade and promoting a cleaner environment and lower carbon emissions by moving freight from road to rail,” sums up TMH Africa CEO Jerome Boyet.