Cashews and prawns point to revival of Mozambican economy

RAPIDLY GROWING exports of cashew nuts and
shellfish from Mozambique are signs that the
rural economy is recovering from years of war
followed by devastating floods.
“Cashew nuts are one of the main
commodities we handle, and there has been a
40% growth in recent years,” says Maersk Line
national operations manager for Mozambique,
Yussuf Neves.
Prawn exports are also up, as are shipments of
tobacco, sugar and tea from both Mozambique
and Malawi.
Further investment in the cashew nut industry
is expected as the government encourages local
value adding through planned legislation to ban
the export of raw nuts, according to Neves.
Beira is one of the biggest export points for
prawns, with Maersk handling 300 containers or
1 200 tons of prawns out of the port over the
past year.
The company has offices in the ports of
Maputo, Beira, Nacala, Pemba and Quelimane.
“Beira is working well. It is the natural link for
Malawi, Zimbabwe and Zambia,” he says.
Traffic through Nacala is also expected to
increase as road and rail links improve. “The
natural conditions in Nacala are very good. It can
take large ships and the railway line is working.
“We recently were taken by rail from Nacala
to Blantyre in Malawi, and were there within half
a day. S o, the infrastructure is there. The only
question is the equipment – the locos and trucks,
but I believe those are coming as well.”
A back-up is needed for Beira, which has
problems with a shallow draft at the entrance and
has suffered from delays recently. “Nacala is the
best alternative to Beira,” he says.
Maersk is catering for the growth in traffic
through an extensive recruitment and training
drive.
“We have gone into the universities to recruit
staff ahead of the expected demand. Those
students who are selected are trained in-house by
Maersk. In fact, we benefit more than they do as
we get to keep the good ones.”