Maputo, Feb. 11, 2026 (Lusa) - Mozambique's government announced on Tuesday that it would award a concession for the integrated expansion and development project for the port of Nacala, in the northern province of Nampula, to maximise its capacity, after approving the decree authorising the international tender.
The resolution authorising the Ministry of Transport and Logistics to launch the international tender for the concession of the port's expansion and modernisation works was approved by the cabinet in Maputo.
"The port of Nacala, one of the main infrastructures of the Nacala corridor, currently has a capacity of 10 million tonnes per year, having handled 3.5 million tonnes in 2024, representing 35% of its capacity," said the spokesman for the cabinet, Inocêncio Impissa.
The Port has three terminals, one of which is a modern container terminal with a capacity of 252,000 containers, a general cargo terminal with 2.4 million tonnes per year, and a liquid terminal with 3.6 million tonnes per year, in addition to a navigable channel with a depth of more than 18 metres, without the need for dredging.
"Even with these characteristics, there is a need to further improve conditions for unrestricted operations," explained Inocêncio Impissa, adding that, to achieve this, the integrated port development project also provides for the optimisation and modernisation of the port and its terminals, the establishment of a special economic zone and dry ports, attracting foreign investment and industries, and the establishment of a floating dry dock and support facility for ship repairs.
At the same session, Mozambique's government approved a resolution establishing the office responsible for implementing projects in the Beira development corridor in central Mozambique.
"This office aims to coordinate, facilitate, reduce bureaucracy, support and monitor the implementation of strategic projects, namely the construction of the access road to the port of Beira, the construction of the dry port in the district of Dondo and the construction of single-stop borders in Machipanda and Massacatiza," said Impissa.
The Port of Nacala is part of the logistics corridor infrastructure of the same name, with the Mozambican President highlighting, in August last year, its importance in connecting the country to its neighbours Malawi and Zambia, noting that it has "enormous potential" to boost trade in Africa.
"We are resuming the Nacala Corridor Economic Development Strategy Project, an axis linking Mozambique, Malawi and Zambia, with enormous potential for sustainable agriculture, industrial parks and the boosting of regional trade," said the president of Mozambique, Daniel Chapo.
The corridor, in operation since 2016, is a US$4.5 billion investment that brought together Brazilian multinational Vale, then one of the owners, the Japanese conglomerate Mitsui, and the Mozambican public railway company CFM.
The project includes a deep-water port in Nacala, northern Mozambique, connected to a 912-kilometre railway line that transports coal extracted from the inland province of Tete.
In 2023, the then Mozambican President, Filipe Nyusi, inaugurated the new infrastructure at the port of Nacala, considered "crucial" for Malawi and Zambia, countries without access to the sea, and signed agreements with the governments of those countries on the intensification of the joint use of the Nacala Logistics Corridor, which includes the port and connects these three nations through logistics infrastructure.
PME/ADB // ADB.
Lusa
