Maputo — Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete, who is also the current chairperson of the African Union, arrived in Maputo on Monday morning for the start of a three day official visit to Mozambique.

He was greeted at Maputo International Airport by his Mozambican counterpart, Armando Guebuza.

During the visit, it is expected that bilateral agreements will be signed on tourism and agriculture among other areas. It is also thought certain that the "Unity Bridge" over the Rovuma river will feature prominently in the discussions between Guebuza and Kikwete. This bridge will, for the first time, make direct road transport possible between Mozambique and Tanzania. It is being financed entirely out of the budgets of the two countries, and is scheduled to be inaugurated in 2009.

Given Kikwete's AU role, and the fact that Mozambique is deputy chair of the SADC (Southern African Development Community) organ on political, defence and security cooperation, regional matters are certain to be discussed - notably the crisis in Zimbabwe.

Kikwete arrived just as tension in Zimbabwe was ratcheted up another notch with claims by Zimbabwean justice minister Patrick Chinamasa that Botswana is planning to topple the Mugabe regime.

Kikwete's programme also includes visits to the Maputo fishing port, and to the Umbeluzi Agricultural station, just outside the capital, and delivery of a lecture at Mozambique's Higher Institute of International Relations.