Comazar

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Comazar

Type	Joint Stock
Founded	1995
Headquarters	Johannesburg
Key people	Eric Peiffer Patrick Claes
Industry	Railways
Products	Railway operation
Revenue	~
Employees	~
Slogan	The Private Pan-African Railway Operator
Website	http://www.comazar.com/

Comazar is a company that operates railways in Africa. Its stock is majority owned by the French investment group Bolloré. Comazar was founded by Eric Peiffer and Patrick Claes in conjunction with Transnet (Spoornet) and Transurb Consult (a Belgian Railways subsidiary) in 1995.

The headquarters are in Johannesburg.

[edit] Related organizations

Comazar owns stock in and operates the following privately held railways:

Camrail Railways - Cameroon
Madarail - Madagascar
Sitarail Railways - Côte d'Ivoire and Burkina Faso
Ethiopian Railways - 25 year concesssion from 2006

Comazar is also a ten percent partner in the Rift Valley Railways Consortium.

[edit] Previous concessions

In addition, the company has operated railways in these countries in the past:

Sizarail - Democratic Republic of the Congo - The company obtained a 5-year mandate, starting in 1996, to run the country's rail. Comazar started a commuter rail service in Lubumbashi that carried 2 mm passengers per year. Ridership had more than doubled in 2 years of operation, but the government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo cancelled the company's management mandate and confiscated all assets in 1997.
Trans Africa Railway Corporation Tanzania Ltd (TARC) - Tanzania - the company withdrew from its participation in this project in 2002, after 4 years of work. See Tanzania Railways Corporation, currently operated by Rites Consortium of India.