Maputo, Feb. 6, 2026 (Lusa) - Traffic on National Road 1 (N1), the main highway connecting southern and northern Mozambique, has been partially restored three weeks after being disrupted by flooding, an official source announced.
Traffic on the N1 resumed at 10:00 a.m. [08:00 in Lisbon] on Friday, with the reopening of the section of road located in downtown Nguluzane, in the Xai-Xai region, which had the last of six cuts in the highway caused by rains and floods in January in Gaza province, according to a statement from Mozambique's National Road Administration (ANE).
Since Sunday, the land connection between southern and northern Mozambique had been via an alternative road.
With the reopening of traffic at that point on the N1, which will allow land connections between Maputo, Xai-Xai and the rest of the country, the road administration is calling for drivers to avoid night-time driving and speeding, reiterating the need to respect the signs placed along the section, namely by complying with the 30 kilometres per hour speed limit in place at this stage while damage to the road surface is being assessed.
The road administration also explains that, even after the road is reopened to traffic, improvement works will continue, "which means that machinery and other construction equipment will continue to circulate, and, if necessary, traffic may be temporarily stopped to allow for damage repairs."
"ANE calls for everyone's cooperation and greater caution when driving, at a time when traffic is restricted due to ongoing work on the ground, particularly on sections of the N1 in downtown Nguluzane, in the city of Xai-Xai, and 3 de Fevereiro, [in the village of] Incoluane, and N220, in Chissano, [in the region of] Chibuto," it adds.
In a statement also released today, the Gaza Provincial Government notes that, with the opening of the N1, there is now a need for "maximum attention" due to the confirmed presence of snakes and other reptiles on the road.
Mozambique's Minister of Transport and Logistics, João Matlombe, said on Tuesday that the country needs €2.9 billion to repair roads damaged by flooding in recent weeks, ensuring that work is carried out to guarantee connections between provinces via alternative routes.
"It is about US$3.5 billion [€2.5 billion] (...) the figure we are looking for in the market. We don't have that, we are looking for that figure to repair the national road network, including roads in the rest of the country," the minister said in Maputo.
Mozambique currently has more than 5,200 kilometres of damaged roads across the country, Matlombe said, noting that the figure has increased in light of the new assessment of damage caused by the rains, when it was previously estimated at around US$1.2 billion.
The death toll from January's floods in Mozambique has risen to 25, with 724,385 people affected, according to provisional data from the National Institute for Disaster Risk Management and Reduction (INGD).
According to information from the INGD database, to which Lusa had access and with information up to 2:30 p.m. (12:30 p.m. Lisbon time) on Thursday, the floods recorded in various parts of Mozambique have already affected the equivalent of 170,392 families.
Since 7 January, 147 people have been reported injured and nine missing as a result of these floods, in addition to 3,587 houses partially destroyed, 885 totally destroyed and 166,081 flooded, worsening the previous figures.
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