Communication - Presse
Maputo port to invest €2B to double cargo handled p.a. by 2058
The Maputo port concessionaire plans to double the volume of cargo handled annually by 2058 with the extension of the contract and investments of €2 billion, according to official documents to which Lusa had access on Friday.
According to the information contained in the addendum to the concession contract, approved this week by the Mozambican government, the Maputo Port Development Company (MPDC) plans to increase the volume of cargo handled from 26.7 mtpa (million tonnes per year) in 2023 to 50.9 mtpa in 2058, at the end of the 25-year contract extension.
It also estimates an increase in operational capacity from the current 37 mtpa to 54 mtpa and the terminal’s 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.
Sociedade de Desenvolvimento do Porto de Maputo (Maputo Port Development Company) is a private Mozambican company that resulted from a partnership between Caminhos de Ferro de Mozambique (Mozambique Railways) and Portus Indico, which is made up of Grindrod, DP World and the company Mozambique Gestores.
MPDC says that it has already invested more than US$800 million (€738.5 million) in modernising the port infrastructure and has increased capacity to 37 million tonnes through deepening dredging, rehabilitation and deepening of more than 1,500 metres of quay, equipment, systems and a training centre for its port staff, “more than 99% of whom are Mozambican”.
At a Cabinet meeting this week, the Mozambican government approved the extension of the concession contract for a further 25 years – starting in 2033 – with the Maputo port concessionaire committing to invest US$2,060 billion (€1.9 billion).
According to the addendum, the parties “agree and recognise that, during the Extended Term, MPDC undertakes to make additional investments in the Port, as described below and in accordance with the terms established in the Revised Port Master Plan”, undertaking to make that investment to “increase capacity”.
It also provides that in the “acquisition of any goods and services necessary for the implementation of the project”, MPDC will “give preference to goods produced in the Mozambican market and to services offered by national entities”.
“In the spirit of transferring knowledge and technology and in the context of social responsibility, the company undertakes to contribute to supporting business and technical training activities, so that Mozambicans can be competitive in the supply of the aforementioned goods,” it reads.
