Zimbabwe will need a more efficient Limpopo Corridor to boost its economic growth, according to Héldio Dimande, business development manager at the Maputo Port Development Company (MPDC).He told Freight News that the MPDC “remains optimistic about Zimbabwe’s economic recovery strateg y.“The Port of Maputo growth plan includes increased Zimbabwean trade f lows along the Limpopo Corridor, provided more investments are made to improve transit logistics,” he said. “Zimbabwe has great potential in the extractive sector. “Our strategic position as a key gateway to Asia is able to support growth in Zimbabwean volumes.” Dimande points out that Maputo has historically been an important trade gateway for Zimbabwe.Over the past decade more than 1.5 million tons of Zimbabwean minerals have been exported through Maputo Port.The port also handles vehicles, fuel, containers and fertilisers for Zimbabwe.“We provide bulk, breakbulk and containerised cargo services through our terminal operators which serve the hinterland via the Limpopo Corridor.”The corridor is able to cope with current volumes. “Although there are some constraints in transit, the corridor remains open and ready for business to serve the extractive sector and trade sectors in Zimbabwe,” he says. Maputo will have the capacity to handle additional volumes as it has an investment programme that will see capacity increase by around 3% a year over the next decade. Currently Maputo moves over 22 million tons of freight a year for the SADC region, with the Limpopo Corridor accounting for less than 1% of the total.For future regional economic growth, more investment in rail is needed to speed up the f low of freight on the corridor as the rail traffic remains inefficient, says Dimande.“Road Infrastructure development projects should be offered as public private partnerships to allow private players to draw interest in developing toll roads to facilitate road development in the Limpopo Corridor, thus allowing more trade from the hinterland to f low to Asia via Maputo Port. “Regional coordination and systems integration at border posts should also be considered to enhance bilateral f lows along the Limpopo Corridor.“As more traffic finds its way to the Maputo Port via Limpopo, customs clearance services in both countries (Mozambique and Zimbabwe) will need to upscale service levels to match the increased traffic f low in order to improve transit times across the corridor,” he adds. The MPDC is spearheading efforts to remove the bottlenecks and promote business on the corridor. This will create new opportunities. “Zimbabwe has the capacity to revive its agricultural sector to supply the region and the rest of the globe. “This would create opportunities for logistics and freight operators to diversify their cargo matrixes with agro-commodity exports and fertiliser raw material imports,” he said.
