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Article: Southern Africa, back on the rails. (International )
- Article from:
- The Economist (US)
- Article date:
- July 29, 1989
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 1989 Economist Newspaper Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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Southern Africa, back on the rails
WAR has buckled railways all over Africa, dividing producers from their markets and refugees from foreign aid. As peace creeps towards the continent's southern countries, the railwaymen are starting to perk up. Namibia is on its way to independence, the civil-warring parties in Mozambique and Angola have started talking about talks. If trains run peacefully through those countries, South Africa will lose its strangler's grip on the region's trade routes.
At present roughly three-fifths of Zimbabwe's trade goes through South Africa, though the port of Durban is three times as far from Harare as is Beira, in Mozambique ...