Porto de Maputo
Maputo, 22 Nov (AIM) – The Mozambican Ministry of Transport and the Maputo Port Development Company (MPDC) intend to invest over two billion dollars to increase the handling capacity of the Port of Maputo, from the current 37 million tonnes per year to about 52 million and from the current 270,000 containers to one million.
The investment should result in a direct return to the state estimated at over eight billion dollars over the next 25 years of the concession granted to MPDC.
“Aware of the investments to increase the throughput capacity of the Maputo Corridor and the need to align investments, the government, at the meeting of the Council of Ministers (Cabinet) on 14 November, authorized the Minister of Transport, in partnership with MPDC, to agree on investments to increase port handling capacity”, said Transport Minister Mateus Magala, speaking last weekend at the inauguration of the Pessene Transit Management Park about 60 kilometres north of Maputo.
With the planned investment, it is expected to create capacity to meet the growth potential of goods transiting the Maputo corridor. Magala said his department is working towards the creation of an institution to manage the corridor in 2024 to meet the demand.
“We are working towards the creation of a corridor management body next year, which will be responsible for coordinating and bringing together the various interests of the corridor’s stakeholders, in order to aggregate synergies and stimulate the reforms needed to turn the potential here into a source of quality job creation and prosperity for all”, he declared.
“Effective coordination and integration of all stakeholders is essential in order to maximize the use of the corridor, turning it into a real instrument for promoting our nation’s economic and social progress”, he added.
These measures are announced at a time when the government is working on the “One Stop Border” with neighboring South Africa to share information, integrate processes and simplify procedures to reduce transit times at the Ressano Garcia border.
(AIM)
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