African Rail to Raise $170 Million for South Africa Expansion

African Rail Co., a closely held rail-logistics company, plans to raise $170 million this year to buy locomotives and wagons to run in South Africa, where the state logistics company is under pressure to improve performance.

United Arab Emirates-based ARC was among 11 successful bidders for slots to operate trains on South Africa’s freight network, part of the government’s almost 2 trillion rand ($119 billion) drive to bring in private companies to boost efficiency. Bottlenecks at state-owned Transnet SOC Ltd., which also operates the country’s main ports, has been a major constraint on economic growth over the past decade.