Mozambique’s Minister of Public Works, Housing and Water Resources, João Machatine, said the Government will channel over £440M (US$590M) for the rehabilitation of roads in the Zambezia province, in central Mozambique.
Mr. Machatine made the remarks while inaugurating paving works along a total of 70km of road infrastructure in the city of Quelimane, the administrative capital of the Zambezia province. This rehabilitation project is being funded by the World Bank.
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He highlighted the importance of investments in infrastructure, saying that there needs to be a more proactive attitude when it comes to fully realising the potential of Mozambique’s economic growth and development, propelled by LNG projects that will see the southern African country become one of the major players in the global energy sector.
Roads, however, are still one of the more deficient infrastructures in the region, a situation only made worse by the ravaging cyclone Idai, in 2019. It must pick up its pace, so that it can accomodate the increasing logistical demand that will rise from so many developments that will shape the future of the country.
Out of the 5 thousand kilometres that constitute the road network in Zambezia, some 3 thousand kilometres are yet to be paved, which not only hinders transport and mobility, but also poses a danger to the population – in the form of floods and mudflows – during rainy seasons.