Mozambique grants Malawi space to build dry port in Nacala

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Mozambique grants Malawi space to build dry port in Nacala

8:34 CAT | 02 Aug 2023

File photo: Macauhub

Mozambique has granted Malawi space to build a dry port in the Port of Nacala, with a view to speeding up customs clearance of goods and making transport logistics more flexible, especially for fuel and fertilisers.

The concession is the result of the deepening of diplomatic and bilateral relations, which will help Malawi to alleviate transport costs and reduce the price of goods.

The space is designed to accommodate railway sidings, warehouses, cargo handling equipment, fuel storage and oil pipelines.

The Malawian government has yet to decide on an operating model for the facilities, namely whether to embark on a public-private partnership or create a fully-fledged state company to optimise Nacala’s port-railway direct connection to Blantyre and then to Lilongwe through Liwonde.

Director of operations at the National Oil Company of Malawi (NOCMA), Micklas Reuben, said that the company to be installed in the port of Nacala would take the lead in transporting goods and fuel from Nacala by rail.

At the moment, the government of Malawi has already identified Geneva-based Augusta Energy to handle 196 million litres of fuel annually through the Port of Nacala.

The Mozambican government’s position comes after Radio Mozambique reported that fuel suppliers to Malawi were abandoning the ports of Beira and Nacala for Dar-Es-Salaam for reasons of congestion and cargo handling inefficiencies.

In Nacala, for example, fuel suppliers to Malawi point to the fact that there are no effective fuel reservoirs available to them, Petromoc being the only one with that facility.

It is hoped that the new partnership will overcome the complaints raised by fuel suppliers to Malawi.

The local press highlights the leadership and diplomacy of presidents Lazarus Chakwera and Filipe Nyusi, who reactivated relations between Malawi and Mozambique as being much appreciated by the Malawians.

Source: Rádio Moçambique