We don't want to take business away from Durban, but see it as a means of the growing the region's economy Ð DTI THE MAPUTO Corridor will create projects worth more than US$5bn(R22,5bn) in the next five years, according to the Department of Trade and Industry.
Department spokesman Ismail Lagardien told FTW that at least 135 projects in South Africa, Mozambique and Zimbabwe had been identified. These included the upgrading of roads and Maputo harbour. An aluminium smelter and the upgrading of railway lines is also planned.
Largardien said the Corridor would serve a dual purpose of providing an eastern port for Gauteng exports, as well as uplifting the Mozambican economy.
We want to encourage other exporting countries like Zimbabwe and Zambia to use Mozambique, not because we want to take business away from Durban, but because the region's economy as a whole needs to grow, he said.
Most of the finance for the projects will come from private and public sector partnerships. Foreign aid would form only a small fraction of the bill, used mostly to redevelop Maputo harbour.
The project is expected to create more than 100 000 jobs, many of them in South Africa's poorer neighbouring state.
