Development Corridor in Southern Africa to Propel Growth
The Nacala Development Corridor stretches across an area that is home to 10 million people, from the border town of Chipata in Zambia to the Mozambican port of Nacala.
Corridors such as Nacala, have become the focal point for regional development initiatives in much of Africa. Effective regional transport links are sought to achieve a range of economic and political objectives. They are especially important to land-locked countries in need of regional transport links for access to the sea. In this regard, Mozambique, in particular, has developed a niche for serving its neighbouring countries, including land-locked provinces in South Africa. Currently, trade and services, of which transport is a major part, account for over 41% of the country’s GDP.
The Nacala Development Corridor
The governments of Mozambique, Malawi and of Zambia are taking part in the collaborative effort to upgrade and establish strategic infrastructure along the Nacala corridor. The aim is ensure an efficient flow of goods and services with a view to creating long-term sustainable economic growth and employment.
The objective is to enhance economic integration and intra-regional trade, and to promote greater complementarities in national economic strategies. Meeting these needs is seen as an important step in the creation of an investor friendly environment for the private sector. It will also provide the private sector with opportunities to invest in and operate key elements of the planned strategic infrastructure.
The plans include the rehabilitation of an existing 77-km railway stretch in Mozambique, the construction of a new railway line through Malawi to Zambia and 1,033 km of new road works. Port facilities in Nacala will also be upgraded as part of the package. The bill for the entire project is estimated at US$80 million.
On the 7th of September, the executive of the Nacala development project announced that the rail infrastructure and port projects could be sure of receiving funding. Reportedly, this new optimism is a result of the increasing growth of businesses using rail freight, in particular coal exports from Moatize in the Tete Province of Mozambique. Moatize will be connected with the corridor. The creation of the Special Economic Zone and the Prosavana agricultural development project are equally seen as important contributing factors.
Investment potential in Southern Africa
The region has a rich and diversified natural resource base, most of which has not been utilised to date. The corridor, therefore, has tremendous development potential in agri-business, mining and tourism. In addition, energy deposits located in east African nations and their offshore coastlines have increasingly been drawing foreign investor interest. Recent surveys have led analysts to estimate that Mozambique has over 6 trillion cubic feet of recoverable natural gas reserves.
The development and upgrading of the Nacala Road Corridor is a priority project for the Southern African Development Community' (SADC). The project is also included in the Infrastructure Action Plan of NEPAD (New Partnership for Africa's Development). NEPAD was launched in 2001 to create an overarching vision and policy for economic integration and co-operation in Africa.
