Mozambique: World Bank admits blame for Beira railway fiasco

The World Bank has admitted that it is largely to blame for the failure of the project to rehabilitate the Beira railway system. Indian consortium RICON was the dominant partner and was supposed to be in charge of the complete reconstruction of the Sena Line. The World Bank was initially enthusiastic about the project, and backed it up with a loan of 104 million US dollars. The Mozambican authorities, and CFM, soon began to sound the alarm. Ricon kept missing deadlines, and its work failed to observe technical standards.