The Mozambiquan government is negotiating funding for construction of five new railway lines in order to meet demand for transport in central and northern Mozambique, particularly for carrying coal, Mozambique’s Transport and Communications Minister, Paulo Zucula said, according to macauhub.com.
Speaking to Mozambiqan newspaper Notícias, the minister said that the plans included 5 000-kilometres of railway lines, one of which would link the Nhamayabue region, in Tete province, to Mutuale, in Nampula.
A second line will link Nhamayabue and Nacala, crossing through Zambézia province, whilst a third will link Moatize to the Zambézia coast and Moatize to Malawi.
Zucula said that negotiations were underway with Brazilian group Vale and with Anglo-Australian group Rio Tinto as well as with other companies interested in investing in the region.
Without detailing the investments involved, Zucula said that, depending on each project, negotiations were at different stages and added that the line from Nhamayabue to Mutuale was at the most advanced stage of negotiation and that its engineering study had been completed and financing was now being negotiated.
The Transport Minister declined to give a date for the start of construction, but gave assurances that in this first half of the year there would be a clear indication of concession conditions and financing for the railway lines.
