Mozambique 7 September: A platform for Africa
Good afternoon. Today is a public holiday in Mozambique, commemorating the Lusaka Accord in 1974 when Portugal agreed to hand over power in Mozambique to Frelimo, so the next news published on Zitamar will be tomorrow, 8 September.
At the end of last week, Mozambique’s transport minister Carlos Mesquita was in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, to sign a memorandum with his counterparts in Zimbabwe and Botswana for a new railway linking all three countries. The project has been talked about for a long time - and will rely on the building of a new, controversial port between Maputo and Mozambique’s southern border with South Africa.
SEE: Mozambique partners Botswana and Zimbabwe in massive railway-project
Another potential mega-project for Mozambique is the planned steel mill in Tete province which was yesterday given tax advantages by the government which approved the establishment of an industrial free zone around the proposed project site. Domestic large-scale steel production could give Mozambique a much-needed export industry, while substituting current imports, and kick-start efforts for industrial development.
SEE: Mozambique government approves free zone for Tete iron and steel project
Graphite is another highly promising mineral resource in Mozambique, and a rescue deal is now on the table for Triton Minerals which all but went bankrupt earlier this year. The company’s woes are a cautionary tale of making too many commitments too early on - and its rescue seems set to signal the first entry of a Chinese investor as a shareholder in Mozambican graphite.
SEE: Triton shareholders to vote on rescue deal this month
Mozambique’s oil and gas potential has received a vote of confidence from a US law firm, specialised in immigration, which has picked Maputo for its first African office, seeing the country as an important market in which to serve its existing Houston, Texas-headquartered clients.
SEE: Mozambique ‘a brilliant platform’ says US law firm as it opens Maputo HQ
And finally, a reminder came from the World Food Programme this week of the effects not only of the drought but also Mozambique’s conflict on people’s ability to feed themselves. Northern Mozambique, where rainfall was not a problem this summer, has struggled to feed the arid south due to fighting in the centre hampering free movement around the country.
SEE: Drought and insecurity cause maize price to double in Mozambique – WFP
Enjoy the holiday - back on Thursday.