The Prime Minister was speaking during the annual conference of the port of Maputo. He did not reveal the name of the company involved but stated that the work could be concluded by 2015.
The project will cost seven billion US dollars which the governments of Mozambique and Botswana are to raise.
According to Vaquina, “the Techobanine deep water port complex will be constructed from scratch for use by deep draft ships, and will complement the port of Maputo. It will involve the construction of a railway line linking Techobanine with Botswana via Chicualacuala (in the southern Mozambican province of Gaza) and Zimbabwe, and the building of an industrial complex”.
The port will have the capacity to handle 100 million tonnes of cargo per year and could become an important regional strategic fuel reserve. It is expected to be used for the export of minerals from Botswana, South Africa and Zimbabwe.
Prime Minister Vaquina warned that “the port will provide a challenge to the education sector, particularly for technical and vocational education which will have to train the port staff”.
For the project to be viable it will need to handle a minimum of 43 million tonnes of cargo per year.
The port complex will occupy 30,000 hectares, including an industrial development zone covering 11,000 hectares.
Post published in: Africa News