Nyusi inaugurates largest shopping centre

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Nyusi inaugurates largest shopping centre

7:50 CAT | 07 Jun 2018

Photo: Baía Mall Facebook

Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi on Thursday formally inaugurated the Baia Mall, the largest shopping centre in the country.

Built on the Maputo coast road, the Mall covers 30,000 square metres, and has space for over 100 shops and restaurants.

The partners in the Mall are the Automobile and Touring Club of Mozambique (ATCM), which holds the rights to the land, the South African private equity company Actis (which holds 80 per cent of the shares), and the real estate company RPP Development (which holds the other 20 per cent). The total investment in the mall is put at 96 million US dollars.

The Mall managers claim that Baia Mall will generate about 2,000 direct jobs, and many more indirect jobs in the whole value chain supporting the shopping centre. 95 per cent of these jobs are expected to go to Mozambicans.

Nyusi declared that this investment shows confidence that “Mozambique, with its hard working people, oriented towards production is viable. This supports our affirmation that Mozambique is back”.

He was pleased to see Mozambican chickens and vegetables from the Maputo green zone on the shelves of the supermarkets, and Mozambican dishes on the menus of some of the restaurants. He challenged Mozambican farmers and other producers “to supply goods of the quality required by the retailers in this mall”.

Eduardo Mondlane Junior, representing the Baia Mall shareholders, said that the occupation rate of the shops has risen from 50 per cent at the time of the pre-opening ceremony in November to 88 per cent now, and a further three shops are expected to open this month.

Many internationally recognised brands are represented at the mall, and Mondlane argued that Mozambicans do not need to travel abroad to find good quality products. “We want to encourage Mozambicans to buy in Mozambique”, he said.

Of the shops, the largest is the Maputo branch of the South African supermarket chain “Game”. Other South African chain stores that have set up branches in Baia Mall include Premier Superspar, Woolworths and Mr Price. No less than five Mozambican commercial banks have set up branches in the mall, and there is a hotel belonging to the Tsogo Sun group. The Mall car park can hold 900 vehicles.

According to the chairperson of ATCM, Antonio Marques, ownership of the mall will be gradually transferred to ATCM so that, after 50 years, it will own 100 per cent of the undertaking.

Source: AIM