Manica province in central Mozambique may have four dry docks in the near future to help reduce congestion at the port of Beira in neighbouring Sofala province, the president of the Manica Provincial Business Council, Samuel Guisado, said recently in Chimoio.
He said the four docks, to be built in Inchope, Chimoio, Vanduzi and Manica, will be important to boost the rapid development of Manica province, especially the future Chimoio Special Economic Zone.
Mozambican newspaper Notícias reported that this intention is part of the project to transform Chimoio, the capital of Manica, into a Special Economic Zone (EEZ) and was made public during a recent meeting co-organised by the Agency for the Promotion of Imports and Exports (Apiex), the Ministry of Industry and Trade, the Provincial Directorate of Industry and Trade and the Chimoio Municipal Council.
Guisado also said that the four locations mentioned meet the strategic conditions for the establishment of dry docks, which could help to make trade more flexible in the province of Manica and neighbouring countries, for which the port of Beira is the main port of exit and entry for the products they export and import.
The dry docks planned for Manica province will be directly linked to national roads number 1 and 6 and the Beira-Machipanda railway line, the first of which will be built at Inchope, the main road junction in the central region, where the two roads meet to link the southern, central and northern regions of the country.
The dry dock of Inchope, which may also be known as Inchope Inland Customs Station, will be an international cargo terminal that could reduce congestion of containerised cargo for export and import from or to the port of Beira and to Zimbabwe, Malawi, Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Source: Macauhub