The railway business in Africa is not for the faint of heart. Just ask mining giant Exxaro which last March announced it had taken a $US 450m hit on its proposed Mayoko iron-ore project in the Republic of Congo after failing to finalise rail and port access agreements with the Congolese government. There are undoubtedly many reasons why Exxaro did not get the access it needed to the Congo-Ocean Railway -the company declined to comment on the matter, saying only that negotiations with the government are continuing and that its South African-built mainline locomotives and ore wagons were for sale.
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