Rail is a sustainable form of transport and plays a crucial role in economic development.

Africa Global Logistics operates rail concessions that transport the continent’s oil, container, building materials and everyday consumer goods supplies. We also facilitate agricultural product exports and operate intercity and long distance passenger services.

We firmly believe that rail has a vital role to play in supporting local economies and ensuring environmental sustainability.

KEY FIGURES

2,200 km of track
700,000 passengers a year
2,500,000 tonnes of goods transported
3,000 employees
Rail concessions operator in West and Central Africa

Africa Global Logistics operates two rail concessions – SITARAIL, the network linking up Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso (operated since 1995) and CAMRAIL, Cameroon’s rail network (operated since 1999).

Drapeau du Burkina-Faso Burkina Faso
Drapeau de la Côte d'Ivoire Ivory Coast
Sitarail transports passengers and goods between the Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso.

Transporting around 1 million tonnes of freight per year 1 million tonnes of freight per year.

Its main line of business is supplying containers of oil, clinker, foodstuffs, fertiliser and construction materials to the cities of Bobo-Dioulasso and Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso.

On the return journeys, Sitarail transports Burkinabe cotton crops and livestock destined for export as well as local produce from landlocked areas.

Its network has branch lines with private sidings for around twenty companies and manufacturers in both countries for door-to-door deliveries.

The company works with more than 200 businesses and local subcontractors, providing an indirect livelihood to thousands of people.
1995 Year concession
granted
1 155 km of track
for 59 stations
€53 M turnover
in 2021
€72 M invested*
1 M tonnes of freight
transported annually
1 421 direct employees
* in Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso over the past five years
Drapeau du Cameroun Douala corridor
(Cameroon)
Drapeau du Tchad RCA
N’Djamena (Chad)
Bangui (CAR)

The Camrail network comprises two lines.

The first of which - the Trans-Cameroon Railway linking Douala and Ngaoundéré - is 885 km long.
The second section of the network, between Douala and Mbanga and onwards to Kumba, is around 100 km long and is not in use. Camrail transports passengers along the Douala-Yaoundé, Yaoundé-Bélabo and Bélabo-Ngaoundéré sections of its network.

It also transports cargo for the national market from the Port of Douala, including oil destined for the three main depots at :

  • Yaoundé,
  • Bélabo,
  • Ngaoundéré.

Consumer goods for areas accessible by rail with links between Douala and Yaoundé in the north and east of Cameroon ; and domestic primary sector products for export, such as :

  • cotton fibre,
  • logs,
  • lumber.
Our AGL subsidiary also serves the Douala-Chad and Douala-Bangui corridors with a combination of rail and road transport.
1999 Year concession
granted
884 km of track*
for 38 stations
€59 M turnover
in 2021
€62 M invested**
1,5 M tonnes of freight
transported annually
1 508 direct employees
* + 100 km of lines not running
** in Cameroon over the past five years
Rail freight solutions

Railways offer a means of stimulating economic and social development by facilitating trade between countries, improving access to inland areas and boosting competition in the regions they pass through. 

AGL offers customers new logistics solutions for transporting oil, minerals, cereals, fertilisers, building materials, industrial products, livestock and fresh produce through an extensive range of equipment and specialised services:

  • transportation via flat wagons supporting dry or refrigerated containers,
  • covered wagons for conventional cargo (e.g. rough sawn lumber, cotton, building materials and bagged goods),
  • tank wagons for bulk liquids (e.g. fuel),
  • high-sided wagons for solid bulk goods.
Containers

AGL’s concessions provide container shipping for consumer goods (foodstuffs, manufactured products, building materials) and agricultural products, as well as special containers for freight forwarders, importers and exporters.

Conventional cargo

Consumer goods, bags/sacks, agricultural products (timber, cotton), building materials and supplies for companies operating in the timber, agri-foods and market gardening sectors are transported by dedicated rail equipment in optimum security conditions.

Industry

The main industries in West and Central Africa transport their goods by rail. The expansion of the transportation network, combined with tailored transport solutions and guaranteed rail freight security enables companies to improve the reliability of their supply and marketing chains.

Agriculture and timber sectors

The railway is vital to the agriculture and timber sectors, ensuring that goods are transported from the place of production to points of sale. Cotton, sesame, gum arabic, cashew nuts, fruits, vegetables and timber all benefit from the efficiency offered by rail freight.

AGL’s networks have direct lines to some customer facilities in the form of private sidings, as well as to dry ports which serve the rail-road transport solution.

Rail passenger transport

AGL fulfils passenger service duties via our two rail concessions. 

We run intercity rail services (the Douala to Yaoundé or Yaoundé to Ngaoundéré Express) and so-called Omnibus train services (for transporting essential supplies to local populations). We also run international passenger services between the Ivory Coast and Burkina Faso on the Abidjan-Ouagadougou rail network.

With the suspension of international travel imposed by several West African states – including Burkina Faso and Ivory Coast – in March 2020 due to COVID-19, Sitarail was forced to suspend its passenger service between the two countries.

39 stations
served
  • First class
  • Economy class
  • Bar and restaurant
38 stations
served
  • Sleeper coaches
  • First class
  • Economy class
  • Bar and restaurant
* before suspension of passenger rail services
Railway know-how that is unique in Africa

AGL is a major rail concessions operator on the African continent.

The company has acquired extensive expertise over the years. The railway training centres operated by AGL have become regional centres of excellence and models for transferring skills across the continent.

Modernisation of rail infrastructure

AGL is working in partnership with the concession-granting States to maintain and upgrade railway infrastructure.

We have set up multi-year programmes to replace :

  • worn sections of track
  • repair engineering structures
  • upgrade signalling
  • improve stations and passenger facilities.

These programmes also include the purchase of heavy maintenance and logistics equipment such as tampers, track inspection trolleys, road-rail vehicles and track maintenance tools.

Technicien ferroviaire en Afrique en train de d'assembler une éclisse de rail

Rolling stock maintenance

Our technical experts maintain, overhaul and repair rolling stock on both of our networks, including locomotives, wagons, passenger coaches and track maintenance and servicing equipment. They also service machine-tools and industrial equipment in the workshops.

These maintenance activities are carried out in AGL’s 10 technical and industrial depots, considered to be centres of technical excellence, ensuring that we are continuously improving the capacities of the networks we operate.

techniciens ferroviaires en phase d'inspection d'une locomotive dans un atelier de répartation
A green mode of transport 

Sitarail and Camrail are leading the way in decarbonising transport in Western and Central Africa thanks to the modernisation of their rail equipment and infrastructure.

Both of AGL’s rail networks are helping to prevent CO2 emissions that would otherwise have been produced by road freight each year, thereby considerably reducing total carbon emissions in the countries they serve. Rail freight also helps to alleviate traffic congestion, using dedicated lines which significantly cut wait times for goods leaving ports and cities.

At AGL, we are committed to ensuring we use modern, fuel-efficient equipment which emits less CO2. Our proximity policy set up to protect populations living near railway lines is testament to this commitment.

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