This year the State will receive around one billion meticais in dividends resulting from the performance of the public company Portos e Caminhos de Ferro de Moçambique.
Despite the impact of covid-19 on the Mozambican economy which conditioned business activity in the country, the CFM company generated, in the 2020 economic and financial year, net results in excess of 5.2 billion meticais, figures considered positive.
The resumption, by CFM, of the management of the Port of Nacala, as from January of the same year, after it had been awarded a concession to the Nacala Development Corridor (CDN), contributed in some way to the generation of the result in reference, associated with the positive performance of the Port of Beira Oil Terminal, particularly in the handling of fuel in transit to some countries in the hinterland of the southern region of Africa.
A source from CFM said that of the amount obtained in the 2020 financial year, around 10%, or 522 million meticais, would be reserved for the social fund, and a further 67%, equivalent to 3.5 billion, for investments.
Meanwhile, in the data contained in the financial statements for the economic year 2020, made public recently, the rail-port company highlights that, in fulfilling the objectives of its Strategic Plan (2018-2020), about 202.1 million dollars (about 15 billion meticais) were disbursed, with the purpose of increasing rail traffic, as well as increasing the levels of effectiveness and efficiency in port handling of goods at the terminals under the company’s management.
Among the large-scale investments, the highlights are the acquisition of rolling stock (10 locomotives, 390 wagons), port equipment (2 tugboats, 1 speedboat, 2 loco tractors) as well as the maintenance of railway and port infrastructure (dredging of the access channel to the port of Beira, reinforcement of the railway signaling system, rehabilitation of bridges and railway stations, among others).
From the investments made it was possible to increase the level of production and rail traffic to about 16.8 million net tons in 2020, against 19.4 foreseen in the strategic plan, which corresponds to 87% of the fulfillment of the objectives or targets.
“The 2020 economic year was characterized by a contraction in global and national economic activity, in particular due to the effects of Covid-19 that impacted the reduction of rail traffic by 18% and port traffic by 9%; the depreciation of the metical against the main currencies of transactions; natural disasters and cyclones that affected the rail-port infrastructure,” details the company’s report.
However, the overall rail system carried about 16,791,000 net tons last year, compared to about 20,577,000 carried in 2019, representing a reduction around 18% and a 72% execution level compared to plan.
According to CFM, the rail system’s performance was fundamentally affected by the impact of Covid-19 globally, and particularly the lockdown on the main rail corridors in the South and Central (South Africa, eSwatini and Zimbabwe).
