12 November 2009
Maputo — Brazil has pledged to make 300 million US dollars available to finance rehabilitation work on the central Mozambican port of Beira and the airport at Nacala in the north of the country.
The promise was made in Maputo on Wednesday by the Brazilian Minister for the Development of Industry and Foreign Trade, Miguel Jorge, after an audience with Mozambican President Armando Guebuza, during which the two men discussed the current stage in the cooperation between the two countries.
Jorge, who is at the head of a group of 90 Brazilian business people seeking opportunities for investment in Mozambique, said that the exploitation of the Moatize coal basin, in the western province of Tete, is one of the largest Brazilian investments in Africa.
The Brazilian mining giant Vale holds one of two coal mining concessions in Moatize (the second was granted to the Australian company Riversdale). Vale's total investment is put at 1.6 billion US dollars, and when the mine is in full operation it will produce 11 million tonnes of coal a year.
A seminar in Maputo allowed the Brazilian delegation to meet with 150 Mozambican business people. At the meeting, the Mozambican Minister of Industry and Trade, Antonio Fernando, stressed that the Mozambican authorities are willing to remove all barriers to investment, in order to step up industrial production.
Energy Minister Salvador Namburete presented three major projects that are still seeking funding - the Mpanda Nkuwa dam on the Zambezi river (60 kilometres downstream from the existing dam at Cahora Bassa), the Moamba Major dam on the Incomati, in the south of the country, and a new electricity transmission line from Tete province to Maputo.
The Brazilian company Camargo Correia is the major partner in the consortium that has the concession to build the Mpanda Nkuwa dam.
Namburete said that Mozambique is also seeking support from Brazil for its biofuels strategy, and that the Mozambican state fuel company, Petromoc, is willing to establish partnerships with Brazilian companies.
Transport Minister Paulo Zucula revealed that negotiations are under way to establish direct flights between Mozambique and Brazil to increase the volume of business between the two countries.
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