Mozambique: Commission to assess future of N4 highway; TRAC’s concession expires in two years

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Mozambique: Commission to assess future of N4 highway; TRAC’s concession expires in two years

10:02 CAT | 04 Jun 2025

FILE - For illustration purposes only. [File photo: Notícias]

Mozambique’s government plans to establish a commission to review the terms of the concession contract for National Highway Number 4 (N4), from Maputo to the border with Ressano Garcia, which was awarded to South Africa’s TRAC and is set to expire in two years.

The decision was made today during the cabinet meeting, according to a statement from that body, which announced the approval of the resolution “authorising the creation of a team to evaluate the terms of the infrastructure concession contract” for the N4 between the government of Mozambique and TRAC.

“The assessment aims to look at the future of the current concession contract, with a view to its expiry in 2027,” the statement said.

O Governo aprovou, esta terça-feira, a resolução que autoriza a criação de uma equipa de avaliação dos Termos do Contrato de Concessão das Infra-estruturas da Estrada Nacional Número 4, entre o Executivo de e a TRAC.
Veja outras notícias na STV PLAY, link na bio pic.twitter.com/UZXZNVKCP8

— stvnoticias (@stvnoticias_mz) June 3, 2025

The concessionaire of the N4, Mozambique’s main road between Maputo and the South African border at Ressano Garcia, acknowledged last January to Lusa that it had suffered serious losses due to the post-election protests and that the future of the concession was uncertain.

“There was serious damage to toll booths in Maputo during the political unrest in the last three months,” acknowledged an official source from Trans African Concessions (TRAC), questioned at the time by Lusa, stressing that the total assessment would only be completed once the situation stabilised.

After several weeks without charging tolls on that road due to post-election protests, during which presidential candidate Venâncio Mondlane called for non-payment, TRAC resumed toll collection in January, causing tension at the entrance to Maputo.

At the time, locals blocked the road, the main entrance and exit to Maputo – essential for the transport of South African exports, mainly minerals, by sea – using trucks, buses and barricades, prompting the police to fire shots to disperse the protests, a process that only returned to normal in the following months.

Almost 100 kilometres long in Mozambique, the road, which connects Tshwane, Gauteng (South Africa) and the port of Maputo (Mozambique), was built by TRAC under a 30-year concession agreement involving the governments of both countries, with the concessionaire assuming the costs of construction and maintenance. At the end of the concession, the road, which totals 570 kilometres, may revert to the respective states.

“The concession contract ends in February 2028. The governments of South Africa and Mozambique will then decide what will happen to the road,” said an official source from the company at the time, in response to Lusa.

He added that “there are several options” for the future, including the road agencies of the two countries (SANRAL and ANE), responsible for the concession contract, “taking over the management of the road”, the concession contract being put “out to tender again”, the renewal of the current contract or its extension.

Trac.lusa_ — *FILE – For illustration purposes only. [File photo: Lusa]*

According to TRAC, the 1997 concession contract for the N4 was worth 3 billion rand (€155.1 million at the current exchange rate), plus 1 billion rand (€51.7 million) for ongoing improvement and rehabilitation work on the entire road, in addition to investment in routine maintenance of 200,000 rand (€10,350) per kilometre (over 570 kilometres), as well as salaries for around 500 employees and the financing of local community projects in Mozambique and South Africa.

“TRAC’s private investment is huge. We are privately funded, and all funds collected from tolls go directly back into the road,” the same source concluded.

READ: Mozambique: Concessionaire TRAC announces 82.3-million-euro rehabilitation of the N4 Maputo-South Africa highway

Former presidential candidate Venâncio Mondlane, who had called for post-election protests, appealed in December for the non-payment of tolls nationwide. Following the destruction and vandalism of some toll booths, several were closed, including those of TRAC in Maputo. This process has since returned to normal in the current climate of pacification in the country.

Venâncio Mondlane, who does not recognise the official results of the general elections of 9 October, demanded in January that this concession be ended: “On the N4, the tolls, given their lifetime, have already fulfilled their profitability concerning the investment made.”

Source: Lusa