Swaziland wants to connect through Mozambique

Swaziland’s King Mswati

III has announced plans

to dig a 70-km canal from the

Mozambican coastline to give the

Mountain Kingdom its own port.

Initial estimates put the cost at

US$3 billion for a four-berth port

on a 26-hectare site.

Gideon Dlamini, minister of

commerce, industry and trade, is

quoted by the government-owned

Swazi Observer newspaper as

saying that the project is definitely

on the cards.

It will compete against Durban

and Maputo.

“The problem with the Maputo

and Durban ports is their

shallowness. These two ports are

not deep enough to handle heavy

ships and we have received reports

that there are ships that face

difficulty docking in these ports

because they are not deep enough,”

he is quoted as saying.

There has been no comment

from the Mozambican authorities.

However, the official Agencia

de Informacao de Mocambique

(Mozambican news agency)

commented that “as anyone

who has driven from Maputo to

Swaziland can testify, the land

rises steeply.

“Canals are fine for transporting

goods over flat terrain – but if

there are hills in the way, locks

must be built, dramatically

increasing the costs.

“Building a canal with a system

of locks capable of holding oceangoing

vessels would be a massive

engineering undertaking”.

Swaziland will face challenges

raising the necessary finance.

Jiro Honda, leader of an

International Monetary Fund

(IMF) team which visited

Swaziland in September, said the

recent weakening of the regional

economic outlook would have

adverse impacts on Swaziland

through trade and financial

channels.