Maputo, June 3, 2025 (Lusa) - Mozambique's Transport Minister, João Matlombe, has expressed concern about the "slowness" of funding for the implementation of the "Move Maputo" transport project, launched in 2023 to improve mobility in the Mozambican capital's metropolitan area.
"The project has signed contracts worth $55 million [€48.3 million] and expects to sign the remaining contracts for this funding by mid-2026. Disbursements reached $40 million [€35 million] in April 2025, which is below the initial forecast," the minister said, quoted today on the ministry's website.
The project, financed by the World Bank with $250 million (€219.5 million at the current exchange rate), provides for exclusive lanes for public buses and also includes the option to purchase 120 buses.
The "Move Maputo" project was launched in April 2023 by Mateus Magala, then Minister of the now-defunct Ministry of Transport and Communications, and aims to "improve urban mobility" and "solve transport problems" in the Maputo metropolitan area. It provides for the implementation of the BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) public transport system, which consists of fast-moving buses, the minister said at the time.
The new transport and logistics minister, João Matlombe, pointed to "delays in the disbursement of funds" for "Move Maputo", a situation that is hampering the "pace of effective implementation" of the planned activities, "especially the infrastructure works that give shape to the project".
"We regret the slowness of the approval processes by the financier, which has compromised the launch of the tender for the construction of the BRT infrastructure, causing delays to the schedule," he said.
Despite the delays, the ministry noted some progress in "Move Maputo", including the fulfilment of five of the seven contractual obligations, study visits, and the implementation of professional training courses for technicians in the sector, as well as for bus drivers and conductors, aimed at the professionalisation of operators.
It also pointed to progress in five road rehabilitation projects, with the prospect of launching seven "major tenders" for construction and supplies.
The tenders are still awaiting “approval from the financier for their launch, totalling $210 million [€184.4 million], with these activities expected to be implemented during the remainder of the project”, according to the same information.
By December 2027, Mozambique hopes to build BRT road infrastructure, including bus stops, a vehicle maintenance centre and a "digital and effective" ticketing and passenger information system.
The BRT system will initially be implemented on two corridors, Baixa-Magoanine and Zimpeto-Matola Gare, benefiting more than 124,000 passengers.
The metropolitan area of Maputo, with about three million inhabitants, covers the district of Marracuene and the municipalities of Maputo, Matola and Boane, concentrating "more than 70% of the country's entire car fleet," according to data provided by the Minister of Transport.
The transport sector in Mozambique is one of the most deficient in terms of public services in the country, particularly road transport, where the crisis in resources has led to the use of open-bed vehicles, known as "my love", given the physical proximity with which passengers travel in the cargo area and the need sometimes to hug each other to avoid falling onto the road.
By 2023, the situation was likely to worsen due to rising fuel prices, with frequent passenger transport stoppages in several Mozambican cities in protest against the lack of an increase in regulated travel fares, as the authorities remained silent on operators' demands for a price increase.
LN/ADB // ADB.
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