Africa-Press – Mozambique. The Mozambican government said on Friday that the extension of the Maputo port concession for 25 years will produce gains of more than US$8 billion (€7.3 million) for the economy.
“With the extension of the concession, we project direct benefits for the domestic economy, including more than US$8 billion in rents, dividends and direct taxes,” said the deputy minister of transport and communications, Amilton Alissone.
Alissone was speaking after signing the addendum to the port’s concession contract with the MPDC consortium, which extends the period of management of the port of Maputo until 13 April 2058.
The work to be carried out as part of the extension of the infrastructure concession will enable the creation of more than 1,000 direct jobs and 5,000 indirect jobs, making a significant contribution to the country’s socio-economic development, he said.
The same decree approves the terms of the Business Plan for making additional investments “to increase cargo handling capacity at the Port of Maputo, with the concessionaire being authorised to make additional investments” of US$2.060 billion (€1.9 billion) in the Port Concession Area.
The Maputo port concessionaire plans to invest US$600 million (€553.4 million) over the next three years in expanding the port infrastructure, the first phase of investment in the addendum to the concession contract.
In an interview with the Lusa news agency this month, the executive director of the Maputo Port Development Company (MPDC), Osório Lucas, explained that this first phase will increase the capacity of the container terminal from the current 170,000 to 530,000 containers in three years.
“It will also increase the capacity of the Matola Coal Terminal from seven million tonnes per annum [mtpa] to 12 million. And our general cargo capacity will rise from 10 million [mtpa] to 13 million, in phase 1, which will be completed in the next three years,” he said.
These investments are ready to go ahead as soon as the addendum to the concession contract is signed, and involve mobilising US$600 million in the first three years.
MPDC expects to go from a cargo handling volume of 26.7 mtpa (million tonnes per year) in 2023 to 50.9 mtpa in 2058, at the end of the period of this new extension of the contract, of another 25 years (starting in 2033).
By 2058, it also estimates an increase in operational capacity from the current 37 mtpa to 54 mtpa and in terminal capacity from 270 to one million containers, the expansion of the Matola Coal Terminal from 7.5 to 18 mtpa and the General Cargo Terminal from 9.2 to 13.6 mtpa.
The MPDC – Sociedade de Desenvolvimento do Porto de Maputo is a private Mozambican company that resulted from a partnership between Caminhos de Ferro de Mozambique (CFM – railways of Mozambique) and Portus Indico, which is made up of Grindrod, DP World and the company Mozambique Gestores.
“This extension, which was negotiated with the government over a period of almost a year and a half, starting in November 2022, aims to create capacity and conditions to increase the volume of cargo handled at our port. The nominal capacity before this extension is 37 million tonnes, compared to 17 million tonnes before our investment, and last year we reached 31 million tonnes, which is almost 80% of capacity,” said the executive director.
He added that since 2003 MPDC has invested around US$900 million (€830.6 million) in modernising the port infrastructure, increasing capacity to 37 million tonnes by dredging, rehabilitating and deepening more than 1,500 metres of quays, equipment, systems and a training centre.
The port of Maputo currently employs around 10,000 direct and indirect workers, 99 % of whom are Mozambican and who depend on the port’s activities every day.
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