Mozambique, Malawi and Zambia sign agreements for Nacala Corridor management

Nacala (Mozambique), 08 Oct (AIM) – Mozambican President, Filipe Nyusi, and his Malawian and Zambian counterparts, Lazarus Chakwera and Hakainde Hichilema, signed three agreements on Saturday for the management of the Nacala Corridor, in the northern Mozambican province of Nampula.

The rail corridor runs from the port of Nacala to landlocked Malawi and Zambia, and is regarded as a backbone for regional economic development.

These agreements, signed at the reopening of the rehabilitated, expanded and modernized infrastructures of the local port, budgeted at 249 million US dollars financed by Japan as a soft loan, are part of the Southern African Trade and Connectivity project.

Work on expanding and modernizing the port of Nacala began in 2018. This will increase its cargo handling capacity from 100,000 to 252,000 containers per year. Overall, the port will have a handling capacity of more than ten million tonnes per year.

Nyusi urged that the signing of the agreements aim to strengthen the corridor’s operations and foster development in the region.

“These agreements represent the introduction of a new paradigm in the management of the Nacala Corridor, in a tripartite approach to the concerns of economic agents, ensuring integrated mechanisms for the continuous movement of people and goods”, he said.

These mechanisms, Nyusi said, also aim to reduce transport costs and transit times in order to improve the competitiveness of the Nacala Development Corridor, thus making it more attractive to its users.

For the Malawian President, whose country uses the Port of Nacala to import and export products such as fuel, clinker, wheat, fertilizers, rice, and vegetable oil, among other goods, the port and railway are key infrastructure for Malawi’s connectivity with the region and the world.

Chakwera has no doubt that the infrastructure is boosting economic growth in the SADC (Southern African Development Community) region and facilitating the flow of goods from Malawi, Zambia and northern Mozambique through the Nacala corridor for export to various parts of the world.

These countries are connected via rail systems from northern Mozambique, through Malawi, to Zambia, via the Chipata-Mchinji rail section, with a road link as well.

“The importance of the port is shown by the economic development it continues to generate in the region, generating efficiency in the transport of goods, people and services. I’ve been here before and it’s nice to see the development that the port is generating with the increase in its cargo handling capacity. That’s why Malawi will continue to be at the center of all the activities around this port”, said the Malawian leader.

For his part, the Zambian President, Hakainde Hichilema, said “The port has been improved and this is important for the three countries, because of the role it will play in structural development projects. This shows the importance of this corridor for the hinterland countries. With this initiative, we will increase our imports and exports in the region”, he said.

According to Hichilema, importing and exporting will become more efficient and effective, and could generate benefits for the region’s economies, given how large the port has become today.

He urged the government to make the same investments in the port of Beira, in Sofala province, an infrastructure that also plays an important role in hinterland trade.

He was also grateful to Mozambique for the projects that help connectivity between the two countries, giving the example of the new Maputo-Lusaka route, launched by Mozambique Airlines (LAM), which in a short time is already showing signs of rapid growth in terms of passenger demand.

Japan’s deputy foreign minister, Hosaka Yasushi, said that his country considered it important to develop the Nacala Corridor, as a regional route that will increase connectivity between Mozambique, Malawi and Zambia.

“The port of Nacala is the gateway that connects the countries of the Southern African hinterland to the Indian Ocean and one of the best natural ports in East Africa. Japanese businessmen are also very interested in the port and the joint public-private mission sent in May this year also visited the port”, said Yasushi.hinterland to the Indian Ocean and one of the best natural ports in East Africa. Japanese businessmen are also very interested in the port and the joint public-private mission sent in May this year also visited the port”, said the diplomat.

RI/PC/Ad/