Perishable exports through Maputo are due to increase, with a $3-million investment in the Quinta da Bela Vista Limitada (QBV) irrigated banana estate in the southern Boane area in the Maputo province.Mozambique is one of the biggest banana exporters in Africa.Production has been affected by Panama disease (Foc TR4) and the Banana Bunchy Top Virus (BBTV). Plantations are being replaced with more resistant variants.Production has shifted south after the collapse of the Matanuska plantation in northern Mozambique, which at its peak exported 50 000 tons of bananas a year and employed 2 500 people. It went bankrupt in 2018, in part due to Panama disease destroying the plants.Despite this failure, production in 2019 was 724 966 tons, according to World Data Atlas. Maputo province has 22 private companies growing bananas, in Namaacha, Moamba, Boane, Manhiça and Marracuene districts, 80% of which are exported to South Africa, Botswana and the Kingdom of Eswatini.In 2018 South Africa accounted for 99% of Mozambican banana exports.Other export destinations for Mozambican bananas are Saudi Arabia, Liberia, Singapore, Greece, Italy, and Antigua and Barbuda. UK-based “social investor” AgDevCo is providing debt capital for the expansion of QBV, which was established in 2016 as a joint venture between Silverstreet Capital's Silverlands I Fund and Crookes Brothers.Crookes Brothers provides QBV with a marketing channel into South Africa. Exports of fresh or dried bananas and plantains from Mozambique to South Africa were worth $32.62 million during 2019, according to the United Nations COMTRADE database on international trade.SilverStreet is one of Africa's largest dedicated investors in the agricultural sector, with investments in eight countries on the continent. The QBV plantation currently comprises 128ha of irrigated bananas, with plans to expand to 260ha over the next two years. It is not the only recent investment. In April 2021, Bananalândia opened a new banana production and processing unit in Moamba district, Maputo province.It has started exporting its produce and has a potential of around 3.5m boxes a year, according to the company.
