South Africa is one of the largest coal-producing countries in the world. Of the 250 million tons the country produces each year, roughly 71 million tons are exported on the global market, making South Africa the sixth-largest coal exporter in the world. Yet, the country is failing to fully capitalize on its coal-production capability. Almost all of South Africa's exported coal passes through the Richards Bay Coal Terminal (RBCT) — the largest of its kind in Africa — but the infrastructure linking the RBCT to coal-producing regions cannot meet the RBCT's export capacity. Mozambique is poised to become a significant coal exporter. With an estimated 23 billion tons of reserves, the Zambezi coal basin in central Mozambique could produce as much as 100 million tons of coal per year by 2020. Were production to reach this number, the southern African nation would become one of the world's top coal exporters. Like South Africa and Mozambique, Botswana has massive amounts of estimated coal reserves. Located primarily in the country's Central District, these reserves total approximately 210 billion tons, giving Botswana a potential export capacity of 80 million tons per year. However, Botswana is landlocked. Without direct access to the sea, any route to bring Botswanan coal to port must traverse at least one other country.
