Government grants city status to the villages of Moatize and Vilankulo – Mozambique

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Government grants city status to the villages of Moatize and Vilankulo – Mozambique

12:14 CAT | 26 Feb 2020

Cabinet spokesperson Filimao Swaze. [Photo: TVM]

The government on Tuesday approved a resolution granting city status to the villages of Moatize, in Tete province, and Vilankulo, in Inhambane.

Notable economic development and the growth of the economically active population in both locations weighed heavily in the decision, Council of Ministers spokesperson Filimão Suaze said.

“The criteria include prerequisites such as the number of inhabitants and, essentially, the degree of economic development,” he pointed out.

Moatize

“In the case of Moatize, it now has just over 64,000 inhabitants, more than half of which is described as being economically active.

“Let us also remember that extractive industry activities are taking place there with increasing intensity.

“We also have some tourist activity, as evidenced by the existence of hotel units.

“And we have other types of commercial and industrial units, such as service stations and fuel pumps. Commerce is also developing on a large scale, with stores of different nature and economic activities.”

Vilankulo

“As far as Vilankulo is concerned, here too we should highlight the leveraging of tourism, the development of fisheries, and the other economic development components that we also mentioned in connection with Moatize.

“Vilankulo now has a population of just over 55,000 inhabitants, satisfying the population prerequisite.

“As to the economic development component, we note the level to which tourism and fishing activities are developing, as answering the requirements for the upgrade to city status.

“Therefore, these criteria, included in the law, were taken into account regarding this decision,” Swazi said.

The Council of Ministers also noted in this session that the population of Mozambique could rise from its current 21 million inhabitants to around 60 million by 2050.

Source: Rádio Moçambique