On 2nd August 2024, the transport ministries of Zimbabwe, Mozambique, and Botswana signed a draft trilateral agreement on the implementation of the €5.9 billion (US$6.5 billion) Ponta Techobanine railway project. The project aims to improve rail connections between the three countries. The signing builds on an agreement signed in 2011 to develop a deep-sea port in Techobanine, 70 km south of Maputo in Mozambique. This is to be connected to Zimbabwe and Botswana via a 1,700 km mixed transport corridor. As part of the agreement, it was agreed that the three responsible railway companies in the countries would provide €9.1 million (US$10 million) for the modernisation of the line from Bulawayo to Chicualacuala on Zimbabwe's southern border with Mozambique. Zimbabwean state railway NRZ will cover the labour and ancillary costs, including the procurement of ballast, lubricants, and spare parts.
