Three years after announcing the rehabilitation project for National Road Number 1 (N1), the Mozambican government still has not set a date for the start of construction. Stretching 2,477 kilometers, the N1 links the north and south of the country, passes through six provincial capitals, and serves as Mozambique’s main logistical corridor.
Despite repeated official statements, the government says that the delay is still due to a lack of funding. On Monday, July 7, Minister of Transport and Logistics João Matlombe reiterated — without providing a timeline — that the government is working to create the necessary conditions to begin the N1 rehabilitation.
According to the minister, several studies are underway, and financing has already been secured for around 1,000 kilometers of the road. However, the completion of various preliminary steps has delayed the actual start of the works. “Our expectation is that, in the coming months, the government will formally announce the start of construction,” Matlombe stated.
Speaking in Maputo during the opening of a pre-consultation seminar for drafting the Road Law bill, hosted by the National Roads Administration (ANE), the minister acknowledged that the poor state of the road network is largely due to financial constraints.
As an example, he noted that the fuel excise tax has dropped from 12 to 5 cents of a dollar per liter since 2009 — one of the lowest rates in the region. “The government doesn’t have enough money to build roads. The issue isn’t the institutions. The National Roads Administration exists, the Road Fund exists, but there are no funds,” he stressed, adding that the challenge lies in finding alternative financing sources and rethinking the economic model to ensure the sector’s sustainability.
Matlombe revealed that just during the 2024–25 rainy season, permanent damage to roads and bridges amounted to 8 billion meticais (US$125 million), while the budget allocated for emergencies during that period was only 121 million meticais (US$1.9 million) — just 1.5%.
The N1 rehabilitation project was originally presented in August 2022 by then Minister of Public Works, Housing and Water Resources, Carlos Mesquita, with construction slated to begin in September of that year — a deadline that was never met.
The intervention is planned in three phases, totaling 1,053 kilometers:
- Phase 1 includes the stretches Inchope–Gorongosa (70 km), Gorongosa–Caia (168 km), Chimuara–Nicuadala (176 km), and Pemba–Metoro (94 km);
- Phase 2 covers Rio Save–Muxúnguè (110 km), Muxúnguè–Inchope (77.5 km), Metoro–Rio Lúrio (74 km), and completion of Gorongosa–Caia (84 km);
- Phase 3 includes Pambara–Rio Save (122 km) and completion of Muxúnguè–Inchope (77.5 km).
The total investment is estimated at US$850 million (54 billion meticais).
Source: Televisão de Moçambique (TVM)
