Maputo, Sept. 17, 2026 (Lusa) - The Mozambican Minister of Transport said on Thursday that building road infrastructure in the Maputo metropolitan area will improve urban mobility, carry 40 million passengers annually, reduce emissions and promote road safety.
«With this, we as a government aim to improve mobility and accessibility along the main corridors within the Maputo metropolitan area, reduce journey times by easing congestion and speeding up travel, as well as improving road safety and lowering greenhouse gas emissions in urban areas,» said the Minister for Transport and Logistics, João Matlombe.
The minister spoke in Maputo at the contract-signing ceremony and the launch of construction work on the BRT (‘Bus Rapid Transit'), which the government says will improve road safety and provide a public transport system that is inclusive, efficient, predictable and resilient to climate change.
The World Bank is funding the BRT project with $250 million (€217.8 million), and the Chinese firm CHICO (China Henan International Cooperation Group) will build it, with completion expected in 2028.
According to the minister, this first phase will involve building a segregated central corridor of around 16.5 kilometres, linking downtown Maputo to Praça da Juventude in Magoanine and the Missão Roque roundabout in Zimpeto, covering the municipalities of Maputo, Marracuene and Matola.
In addition, it will incorporate 46 kilometres of direct and feeder routes that are not segregated, connecting the main terminals in Maputo, Matola and Marracuene.
«We want the BRT to carry around 125,000 passengers daily once the works are completed, which means approximately 40 million passengers per year,» said Minister João Matlombe.
He also added that, in the initial phase of operations, the project will purchase 71 electric buses equipped with Intelligent Transport Systems (ITS), electronic ticketing, Automatic Vehicle Location (AVL) and real-time passenger information across various platforms, including mobile phones.
«Its implementation will generate direct and indirect employment for thousands of Mozambicans, with a particular focus on young people. It will boost national businesses, develop skills, stimulate the economy and contribute to an increase in state revenue,» said the minister.
The government believes the BRT will be a modern, transformative solution for the transport system in the Maputo metropolitan area, improving the quality of urban public transport and making it safer, faster, more comfortable and more accessible.
The Maputo metropolitan area, with a population of around three million, covers the district of Marracuene and the municipalities of Maputo, Matola and Boane, accounting for «more than 70% of the country's entire vehicle fleet», according to figures previously provided by the Minister of Transport.
The transport sector in Mozambique is one of the public services that most benefit from additional resources in the country, particularly road transport, where the current vehicle fleet presents an opportunity to introduce more formal and comfortable services, as open-bed lorries, known as ‘my love', currently offer due to the physical proximity with which passengers travel in the cargo area and the need, at times, to hold on to one another to avoid falling onto the road.
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