The African Development Bank ( AfDB) recently approved the disbursement of 23 million dollars to finance the conclusion of the rehabilitation works of the road linking the provinces of Niassa and Nampula, with a length of about 35 kilometers in the Nacala corridor, an important axis for the development of the northern part of the country.
This is the section that connects the town of Malema and the town of Nakata, in the province of Nampula, and the section from Murrusso to the town of Cuamba, in Niassa, totaling 35 kilometers.
The completion of the works is under the responsibility of a new contractor, of Chinese origin, after the contract between the AfDB and the Portuguese construction company Gabriel Couto was terminated, allegedly due to non-compliance with the assumptions contained in the specifications on the part of the latter.
The Council of State Representation Services in Niassa, which recently met in an extended session with district administrators and presidents of the five municipal councils of that province, reacted with satisfaction to the disbursement ensured by the ADB, adding that it will allow the completion of the long-awaited works.
José Manuel, spokesman for the body, pointed out that the difficulties in the chapter of transit between Cuamba and Malema affects, above all, the economy of Niassa, which depends on the highway to transport its goods, consisting mainly of agricultural food products and income to the port of Nacala, through which exports are ensured.
He pointed out that the improvement of transitability in the Nacala corridor could attract new investments for different sectors in Niassa, which is gradually opening up to the main domestic, regional and international markets.
The president of the Niassa Business Council, the body that represents the province in the Confederation of Business Associations (CTA), Inocêncio Sotomane, said during a meeting held in the city of Lichinga that the freight rates charged by road hauliers were falling due to the gradual improvement in transit.
Inocêncio Sotomane was referring to the improvement of the Lichinga-Cuamba road, which is now at the final stage of construction after decades of difficulties that hauliers have been facing in connecting the two cities by road.
In a single day, according to the entrepreneur, the trip connecting the cities of Nampula and Lichinga could be made smoothly if the Cuamba-Malema section is concluded, a fact that may become a reality in the near future. The contractor in charge of the works is already on the ground carrying out earthworks and building new concrete bridges.
