US$1.2 billion of projects for Nacala Corridor

Road and rail projects totalling more than US$1.2 billion will speed up freight movements along the Nacala Corridor, a road and rail route which connects Zambia, Malawi and the northern Mozambique provinces to the deep water port of Nacala. The 1.710 km Nacala Road Corridor starts at Nacala Port in Mozambique, passes through Malawi and ends in Lusaka, Zambia. The objective of the project is to link Zambia with the Nacala Port in Mozambique and to provide a viable transport alternative for Zambian imports and exports (via a north-south road corridor) to the ports of Durban in South Africa and Beira in Mozambique. The project includes road reconfiguration and upgrading measures as well as bridge replacements. Work started in 2011 with the repair and realignment of a 360 km road section linking Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique. Rehabilitation of a dry port (road and rail interchange) at Chipata in Zambia is also on the cards. Work on supporting road and rail reconstruction elsewhere in Malawi and Mozambique is already underway, with the rail link through Malawi between the Mozambican Tete province and Nacala being one of the best known. At the same time, US$500 million will be invested in rehabilitating the Nacala dam, as well as the city city’s water supply system, electricity supply and telecommunications, according to Mozambican government sources. International flights into a newly-built airport in Nacala are due to start operating towards the end of 2013.