Major advances as Mozambique-Botswana Joint Cooperation Commission meets in Maputo

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Major advances as Mozambique-Botswana Joint Cooperation Commission meets in Maputo

1:09 CAT | 09 Jul 2024

Photo: AIM

The Mozambique-Botswana Joint Cooperation Commission met in Maputo on Monday, and at the end of the discussions, Mozambican Foreign Minister Veronica Macamo declared that major advances have been made in bilateral cooperation.

But clearly the main point under discussion was the projected deep water port in the southernmost Mozambican district of Matutuine. Plans for such a port have been on the drawing board for decades, since they were first mooted in the colonial period.

The proposed location of the port has shifted, from Dobela Point to Techobanine Point, but the funds for its construction (estimated at 6.5 billion US dollars) are not yet available.

Macamo said a tripartite agreement will be signed in Maputo on Friday “to encourage the negotiations on the port of Techobanine”.

“The discussions for the implementation of the project in question are expected to be finalized, taking into account the meeting at the highest level between Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi and his Botswana counterpart (Mokgweetsi Masisi), which will take place on Wednesday this week”, she said.

The port will be linked to Botswana by a 1,700 kilometre long railway that will also pass through Zimbabwe. The main cargo is expected to be Botswanan coal. There is considerable opposition to a new mineral port on environmental grounds.

“We have already spoken a great deal about this”, said Macamo, “but no tripartite agreement on the matter has ever been signed before. This project needs a great deal of synergy and mobilization of resources, and now the three countries are going to collaborate so that the project really does happen”.

In addition to finalizing discussions on the Techobanine project, memorandums of understanding will be signed in the areas of geology, mining and metallurgy.

“The conclusion of the negotiations and other legal instruments will be signed during the visit of President Masisi to Mozambique, which will take place between 10 and 12 July”, she said.

Macamo also appreciated the support of the Botswana government in sending a contingent to fight against Islamist terrorists in the northern province of Cabo Delgado, as part of the Southern African Development Community Military Mission to Mozambique (SAMIM).

For his part, Botswana’s Foreign Minister Lemogang Kwape said that his country will continue to support Mozambique in the fight against terrorists in Cabo Delgado, saying that those relations between Botswana and Mozambique are historic and founded on great friendship, solidarity and mutual co-operation.

“The meeting comes at a time when our countries are facing enormous challenges, such as climate change. We are still reeling from the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic, and so it should be a time to increase cooperation between our countries’”, said Kwape.

Source: AIM