Zimbabwe’s National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ) has entered into a strategic partnership with Dinson Iron and Steel Company (DISCO), a subsidiary of China’s Tsingshan Holding Group, to expand the rail movement of coal and steel as the country’s steel industry develops.
Under the agreement, approximately 1.1 million metric tonnes of coal will be transported from Hwange to Dinson’s steelmaking operations at Manhize, about 600 kilometres away. A further 600,000 tonnes of steel products are expected to be transported from the plant to markets in Zimbabwe and the wider region. The combined volumes represent up to 1.7 million tonnes of freight.
The arrangement brings together NRZ’s existing rail infrastructure and operating capacity with resources supplied by Grand Railway Solutions, a Dinson-related rail subsidiary. Grand Railway Solutions is expected to provide locomotives, wagons and fuel, while NRZ will provide access to its railway infrastructure and train crews.
A central component of the agreement is the rehabilitation of an 80-kilometre section of railway between Gweru and Mvuma, estimated to cost about US$27 million. The parties also plan to establish a new rail connection between Mvuma and the Manhize steel plant.
The new connection is expected to be developed under a build-operate-transfer arrangement, with Grand Railway Solutions financing construction before transferring the infrastructure to NRZ. Its investment would subsequently be recovered through agreed offsets.
The partnership reflects an effort to rebuild the productive role of Zimbabwe’s railway network after years of constrained investment and deteriorating infrastructure. NRZ freight volumes, which reached approximately 12 million tonnes annually during the 1990s, fell to about 2 million tonnes in 2025, increasing the importance of partnerships with private companies and major commodity producers.
For Zimbabwe, the significance of the arrangement extends beyond the movement of steel. Rail is suited to transporting large quantities of bulk commodities over long distances and could reduce pressure on the country’s road network while creating more predictable connections between mining, energy and manufacturing centres.
The proposed movement of coal from Hwange to Manhize would connect one of Zimbabwe’s principal coal-producing areas with a major industrial facility. The return movement of steel products could provide additional freight demand, although the extent of these efficiencies will depend on the reliability and capacity of the upgraded network.
Dinson’s Manhize steel complex, valued at about US$1 billion, began production in 2024. Its emergence as a major industrial freight customer comes as Zimbabwe seeks to expand domestic processing and strengthen connections between mineral resources, manufacturing and regional markets.
The agreement does not, however, resolve NRZ’s wider infrastructure and financing requirements. The railway operator continues to face shortages of locomotives, wagons and investment, while broader rehabilitation of Zimbabwe’s rail network remains necessary to restore capacity across the system.
The Dinson arrangement is therefore one component of a wider effort to reposition rail within Zimbabwe’s industrial economy. Its longer-term significance will depend on the completion of the proposed infrastructure works, the realisation of projected freight volumes and the ability of the partnership to generate sustained rail traffic.
For Zimbabwe, the immediate objective is to improve the movement of domestically produced commodities while creating stronger logistical links between mining, manufacturing and regional markets. For NRZ, the agreement provides an opportunity to rebuild freight volumes around a significant industrial customer while leveraging private-sector participation in railway infrastructure.
