Comazar
 | |
| Joint Stock | |
| Industry | Railways |
| Founded | 1995 |
| Headquarters | Johannesburg |
Key people |
Eric Peiffer Patrick Claes |
| Products | Railway operation |
| Revenue | ~ |
Number of 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.
Related organizations
Comazar owns stock in and operates the following privately held railways:
- Camrail - Cameroon
- Madarail - Madagascar
- Sitarail Railways - Côte d'Ivoire and Burkina Faso
- Ethiopian Railways - 25 year concession from 2006
Comazar is also a ten percent partner in the Rift Valley Railways Consortium.
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.