Mozambique: Construction of US-funded bridge and ring road in Zambézia to begin in 2026

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Mozambique: Construction of US-funded bridge and ring road in Zambézia to begin in 2026

2:48 CAT | 28 Jul 2025

FILE - For illustration purposes only. [File photo: Carta de Moçambique]

Construction of a bridge and ring road in central Mozambique, two of the main projects in a project funded with $500 million from the United States government, will begin in 2026, the Mozambican president announced.

“We also came here to Mocuba to discuss what we are going to do. We haven’t forgotten what we promised here in Mocuba during the election campaign. That’s why we came here to say: The bridge over the Licungo River and the Mocuba ring road will begin next year,” head of state Daniel Chapo announced during a three-day visit to the central province of Zambézia, which ended Friday.

The Millennium Challenge Account (MCA) planned to launch a tender for the construction of the new bridge over the Licungo River and a ring road early this year, according to an announcement reported last December by Lusa.

It stated that the MCA planned to publish a “Specific Tender Announcement” for the project and release the corresponding document “by the end of January 2025”.

READ: Mozambique: Tender on US-funded bridge and ring road to go ahead in January

Mozambique: Mocuba Ring Road and new bridge over the Licungo budgeted at US$200 million – RM

The project involves the construction of an 1,800-metre bridge, half a kilometre downstream from the current crossing, as well as 16 km of new circular access road to connect to the N1 highway at the river crossing.

According to the December announcement, “the existing bridge over the Licungo River is congested, has exceeded its useful life, and is no longer fit for purpose. It has been damaged by floods twice since its construction in the 1940s, and there are no practical alternatives for crossing the Licungo River for heavy trucks when it is damaged by floods”.

Zambézia province, Mozambique’s second most populous province, known for its tea plantations, mangroves, and turquoise beaches, is the focus of a new $500 million (approximately €425.6 million) project by the US-based Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC), along with a $37.5 million (€31.9 million) contribution from the Mozambican state.

The financing, designated Compact II and signed on September 20, 2023, at the Capitol in Washington, in the presence of then-Mozambican head of state Filipe Nyusi, includes a new bridge over the Licungo River and a ring road in the cyclone-menaced central coastal province.

The MCC is a foreign aid agency funded by the US government that provides grants to developing countries. The board of directors announced this financing compact, called the Mozambique Coastal Connectivity and Resilience Compact, the second since 2007.

This second compact focuses on improving transportation networks in rural areas, encouraging commercial agriculture through policy and fiscal reforms, and improving coastal livelihoods through climate resilience initiatives.

The MCC allocated US$310.5 million (€263.9 million) for Rural Transport and Connectivity (RTC) projects, including the bridge over the Licungo River and the construction of the Mocuba bypass, a project valued at US$201 million (€171.1 million).

Nearly US$83.5 million (€71 million) is earmarked for rural road construction, and US$11 million (€9.3 million) for road maintenance, among other things.

The Agricultural Project Reforms and Investment (PRIA) has allocated US$30 million (€25.5 million), half of which will go to the Agricultural Investment Taxation Reform package and the other half to establish the Zambézia Province Commercial Aggregation Platform.

The third component, worth US$100 million (€85.1 million), targets Coastal Livelihoods and Climate Resilience (CLCR) projects to strengthen productivity “through sustainable increases in fish and shellfish harvesting and through non-extractive activities”.

Source: Lusa