Niassa business people ask government for Special Economic Zone

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Niassa business people ask government for Special Economic Zone

1:29 CAT | 22 Aug 2016

Notícias / Prime minister Agostinho do Rosario was in Niassa for a three-day visit.

The private sector in Niassa province has asked the government to establish a Special Economic Zone (ZEE) in the province in order to attract public and private investment and leverage local socio-economic development.

The request was made during the meeting between Prime Minister Carlos Agostinho do Rosario and the provincial business council, today’s edition of newspaper Notícias reports.

Entrepreneurs believe that the establishment of a ZEE in Niassa would address the province’s concerns about attracting investment for infrastructure projects.

Inocencio Sotomane, chairman of Green Resources, said that the development of Niassa was dependent on access to the market for its agricultural production, whose potential remains dormant mainly due to lack of access roads.

“We need to have strong companies, but this goal is difficult to achieve because despite ongoing reforms the road is still long,” said Sotomane.

Businessman Faizal Lacá noted that Niassa was supplied with manufactured goods of all types from the southern provinces of Mozambique, but that the freight costs of one truckload were between 280,000 and 300,000 meticais, substantially raising final prices to consumers.

Air transport has ceased being an alternative because, as entrepreneurs told the prime minister, passenger and cargo rates charged by the national airline and the Airports Company of Mozambique were unaffordable.

The expansion of financial services in Niassa province is slow, contributing to the meager circulation and poor availability of currency, as local people customarily bury money to keep it safe.

Business people at the well-attended meeting also mentioned that the funding which partners made available to micro, small and medium enterprises do not appear to reach Niassa province.

The prime minister said that the efforts that the government was pursuing to return peace to the country was a commitment to the development and well-being of the population.

“But we are also committed to ensuring road and rail connections with Niassa province and the process is registering advances,” he said.

Do Rosario finished by saying that his visit to Niassa had allowed him to observe at first hand “the potential that the province has to offer for speedy development”.

Source: AIM