Tripartite summit held on new mineral port

Matutuine (Mozambique), 13 Jul (AIM) – Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi on Friday claimed that building a new mineral port at Techobanine Point, in the southernmost Mozambican district of Matutuine, will benefit landlocked countries of the southern African interior, and will relieve congestion in the South African ports of Durban and Richards Bay.

He was speaking at Milibangalala, in Matutuine, immediately after a tripartite summit between Mozambique, Botswana and Zimbabwe, intended to revive plans for the new port and the railway that will connect Matutuine to Botswana via Zimbabwe.

Techobanine, said Nyusi, “will respond to the growing volume of mining production of the beneficiary countries, and takes on importance in a phase of energy transition”.

Environmentalists have denounced the plan because it will cut through an important nature reserve in Matutuine. Nyusi, however, claimed that it will reduce the current environmental damage caused in Maputo by mineral traffic from South Africa. It will achieve this goal by diverting traffic away from Maputo port to Techobanine.

Techobanine, he said, will be 20 metres deep, along one kilometre of coast. This is much deeper than Maputo port, and will allow the latest generation of large mineral ships to dock.

The new port, he added, is “strategically located on international shipping routes, linking them to the countries of the interior, especially Botswana and Zimbabwe”.

It would contain pipelines and fuel storage tanks, and an industrial free zone covering an area of 13,000 hectares.

The presidents of Zimbabwe and Botswana, Emmerson Mnangagwa and Mokgweetsi Masisi, both pledged their commitment to the Techobanine project.

“Zimbabwe is ready to comply with its obligations as an expression of our commitment to the project”, said Mnangagwa. “The development of the infrastructure between the three countries is in line with our national development strategy

Masisi declared “Mnangagwa and I have shown that we are going to support Mozambique, and, because Mozambique is on the eve of celebrating 50 years of independence, the best present we can give the countries are ports and railways”.

“The three of us are committed to showing the world that this is how we work, and it can never be defeated”, he added.

The agreements signed by the three governments at the summit included a request for funding addressed to the African Development Bank (ADB), an agreement on the transport of merchandise between the three countries, and an agreement on the construction of the port itself.

But before anything can be built there must be a viability study. Mozambican Transport Minister Mateus Magala said the study will be undertaken by the ADB, and will cost between three and four million dollars in the form of a grant.

That study, added Magala, will determine how much the entire project will cost and indicate possible sources of finance. “Some funds will come from the ADB, some from the Government, some from the private sector and other financial institutions”, said the Minister.

Magala downplayed environmental concerns. “The port will be outside the Maputo National Park”, he said. “It’s an area adjacent to the park. An environmental study has already been carried out, and it was concluded that in this place respect for humanity and biodiversity is safeguarded”.

The port will have the capacity to transport annually three million tonnes of fuel and 16 million tonnes of coal and other minerals.

But who will pay for a port intended essentially to export Botswana’s coal? As the world moves away from fossil fuels, the likelihood of banks or other institutions lending billions of dollars for a coal project seems increasingly remote.

(AIM)

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