Two road projects in the northern and southern provinces of Mozambique will reduce logistics costs for those doing business in Mozambique.Trade with Tanzania will f low more freely once a $170-million, 164-kilometre project to upgrade the road from Mueda in the Cabo Delgado province to the Tanzanian border at Nogomano is complete.It is one of the missing links in a road project initiated by the two countries in the early 2000s.The Unity Bridge at the border post was completed in 2010.There are plans for it to be upgraded to a one-stop border post.According to the African Development Bank, which has financed part of the project, the road will contribute to “unblocking the potential of the far remote and socially excluded regions of Mozambique as well as Tanzania. “Strategically this will help improve the reg ion's overall competitiveness and also contribute to food security”.Traf f ic congestion on the N4 highway leading to the ports of Maputo and Matola is expected to improve once a truck traffic management park comes into operation in Pessene, about 40km from the port.Work started on the Maputo Port Development Company (MPDC) project in July.According to the MPDC, the first phase will take around 90 days (for cleaning, earth moving, fencing and inclusion of basic water and energy services) and will cost approximately $3m.The project’s second phase will focus on integrating commercial services and augmenting port-related activities within the truck traffic management park.The two projects are happening in isolation as plans to rehabilitate the country's main north-south highway (EN1) have been pushed out to May 2024.Work was supposed to start in mid-2023.The initial phase of the work will upgrade over 508km of road from the Inchope crossroads to Gorongosa, in the central province of Sofala; from Gorongosa to Caia, on the south bank of the Zambezi River; from Chimuara to Nicoadala, in Zambezia province; and from Metoro to Pemba, in the northern province of Cabo Delgado. The World Bank is financing the $400m project.
