The Mozambican government recently guaranteed that it will soon begin construction of the Machipanda dry port, pointing out that the work will last 18 months and is valued at 13 million dollars. The work will be carried out by a Chinese investor, the Eternal Tsingshan Group, which also operates in Zimbabwe in the mining sector.
According to the Minister of Industry and Trade, Silvino Moreno, the infrastructure will boost business activity in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region, by transporting goods from the port of Beira to the hinterland countries.
“The Machipanda dry port will handle around two million tonnes of cargo from Zimbabwe to the port of Beira. This figure could grow with the handling of other types of cargo,” he explained.
He also pointed out that the realisation of the project will help to reduce long road traffic queues and ease congestion at the Machipanda border, as well as helping to reduce handling time, distance and costs.
