Mozambique is preparing to lease part of its northern port of Nacala to landlocked Malawi in a bid to boost trade ties between the neighbouring countries.
Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi and his Malawian counterpart, Lazarus Chakwera last week signed the first agreements to get the concession deal under way.
As part of the deal, Mozambique will provide space within the Port of Nacala where Malawi can develop a terminal to handle imports and exports of goods to the country.
“The agreements will benefit both countries since they are instruments that aim to enable initiatives that are already under way such as the Mozambique-Malawi joint electrification project called MOMA,” said Nyusi.
The port lies in the Nacala Development Corridor, which is being jointly developed by Malawi, Zambia and Mozambique to facilitate regional connectivity and sea access for landlocked Malawi and Zambia. It includes 1 161km of road network and will see the rehabilitation of the railway line connecting Lilongwe and one-stop border posts between the countries.
The National Oil Company of Malawi recently began importing fuel through Nacala using rail transport, which will enable it to gradually reduce its dependence on the ports of Beira, Durban and Dar es Salaam, where import costs are inflated because of the use of road transport.
“I am pleased that we will soon be able to reduce the overland costs of fuel transport, which translate into lower fuel prices in Malawi,” said Chakwera.
The Port of Nacala has been undergoing modernisation since 2018 following a $300 million financial injection from the Japan International Cooperation Agency. Upgrades have included dredging to a terminal depth of 14 metres and the acquisition of new cargo-handling equipment.
In 2023 the port handled 3.1 million tonnes of general cargo, representing 103% of what it had forecast for the year, with volumes expected to hit 3.5 million tonnes by December 2024, according to the port’s director of infrastructure, Nelmo Induna. Additionally, almost 14 million tonnes of coal was transported from the Moatize mine in Tete province to the port of Nacala through Malawi last year.
