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.”