Maputo — The governments of the three southern Mozambican provinces of Maputo, Gaza and Inhambane are studying with potential donors means of financing a new highway that would link Inhambane to South Africa's Northern province.

The new road will be 540 kilometres long. It is planned to run from Mabote district in Inhambane, straight across Gaza province, and enter South Africa at Pafuri. The total cost is estimated at three million US dollars.

The viability study indicates that such a road would give further impetus to the development of the region, and so, before the end of this year, the three provincial governors plan to meet with public works directors and technical staff in the areas crossed by the road, to discuss financing.

The Inhambane provincial director of public works, Carlos Chissano, told AIM on Monday that the three provincial governments regard building this road as a strategic step in the struggle against absolute poverty.

Chissano expected the road to encourage balanced development in the south of the country. Among the areas to benefit will be trade, tourism, and fisheries. The new road will make it much easier for South African tourists to reach the pristine beaches of Inhambane - it will be 300 kilometres shorter than the current route, via the Ressano Garcia border post and Maputo.

No funds were yet available for the project, said Chissano, but some "cooperation partners" had expressed an interest, including the South African oil company SASOL, and the German and Irish governments.

Initially this will be a dirt road, but in future it could be tarred, and endowed with modern communication systems, to permit secure movement of people and goods.

The road will have to cross the Limpopo river in Gaza. This implies building a new bridge costed at 500,000 US dollars. A draft project for a new bridge, 350 metres long and eight metres wide, has already been drawn up.