THE Mozambican government appointed an Indian consortium yesterday to rehabilitate and operate the Beira railway system a move that could jump-start investments in central Mozambique, with spin-offs for SA.
Indian consortium Rites and Ircon International would operate the line for 25 years and manage it jointly with Caminhos de Ferro de Mocambique, the Mozambican public railway company.
South African firms, such as steel maker Iscor and the Industrial Development Corporation, were considering projects in Mozambique.
These and other projects, particularly in the mining, agriculture, sugar and timber sectors, could take off, once efficient and affordable railway infrastructure was in place.
"The rehabilitation of the line will break a deadlock that has strangled multimillion-dollar investments in the Zambezi Valley," Paulo Zucula, head of spatial development initiatives at the Development Bank of Southern Africa, said yesterday .
The line falls within the resources-rich Zambezi Valley spatial development initiative in central Mozambique, where that country's government is offering investors reduced corporate tax, certain exemptions from import duties and other incentives.
The line was damaged beyond use in the Mozambican civil war.
The railway system which encompasses the line from the port of Beira to Machipanda on the Zimbabwe border and the Sena line would link the Maputo port to the Moatize coal mine in Tete province.
The World Bank has pledged 120m of the $170m necessary to rehabilitate the railway to Machipanda and reconstruct the Sena line.
The development bank said yesterday the project included restoring the entire railway infrastructure, acquiring new engines and other rolling equipment, and installing a telecommunications and security system. The work is expected to be completed over a three years.
Fonte:AIM
