SA’s Transnet seeks Nigerian presence

South Africa’s Transnet SOC Ltd. is interested in bidding for pipeline projects in East Africa and proposed getting involved in new ports in Nigeria as the company looks to expand its business on the continent, Chief Executive Officer Siyabonga Gama said.

Kenya last month proposed building a crude pipeline to ship oil from deposits that are being developed in the north of the country to a port on its Indian Ocean coast, while Uganda — where Total SA, China National Offshore Oil Corp. and London-based Tullow Oil Plc are working — announced similar plans to transport crude from its western Hoima region to the Tanzanian port of Tanga. Nigeria is also considering new harbors, including one near the southeastern city of Warri, Gama said Wednesday.

“Africa has got very good prospects for us,” Gama said in an interview at the World Economic Forum in the Rwandan capital, Kigali. Countries need to “modernize their ports and railways.”

The state-owned South African rail, pipeline and ports operator is looking to boost revenue outside its home market after announcing in October it extended its capital expenditure program to as much as 380 billion rand ($25 billion) over the next 10 years as it considered delaying projects amid slumping prices of raw materials. An earlier plan was to invest 337 billion rand over seven years.