Mozambique signs JVs for two more ports

Two more Mozambican ports are to be run as joint ventures. The Mozambican government and the newly formed Ports of Cabo Delgado Company (PCD) have signed an agreement whereby PCD will run the port terminals in Pemba and Palma. Pemba is the capital of Cabo Delgado province and contains an existing port. Palma is the northernmost district of Cabo Delgado, where a liquefied natural gas (LNG) plant will be built to process the gas extracted from offshore fields in the Rovuma Basin. The current shareholders in PCD are the National Hydrocarbon Company (ENH) and the Port and Railways Company (CFM), which each hold 50%. An entirely new port is needed in Palma to handle the export of LNG. In Pemba, a second port will be built alongside the existing one which is currently managed by CFM. Work is due to start in 2014, with pressure on PCD to have the facilities ready to handle the first exports of gas, which are expected in 2015. Mozambique’s biggest ports are managed through joint venture agreements with private sector operators.