Maputo, June 18, 2025 (Lusa) - The Mozambican government has launched a tender for the acquisition of at least 360 buses to be distributed among municipalities and districts, with the aim of tackling transport problems, an official source said on Wednesday.
“In the tender we have launched, we are planning for around 360 buses for the whole country, including buses for municipalities and rural areas,” said Mozambique’s Minister of Transport and Logistics, speaking to journalists at the launch of the pilot project for the integration of urban public transport, an initiative that aims to improve mobility, especially in the Maputo metropolitan area.
When asked about the 300 electric buses promised last year, João Matlombe said that, at the moment, the government has only secured the acquisition of vehicles for municipalities to be made available by December of this year.
“We are managing the country in a challenging economic context, as everyone knows, and we have many government initiatives which, unfortunately, are not being implemented within the timeframe the government would like (…) due to the economic restrictions we are facing,” said the minister.
On June 20, 2024, Lusa reported that the International Finance Corporation (IFC), part of the World Bank Group, was going to support the passenger transport company MetroBus, in Maputo, in the transition of its fleet to electric buses, with the first ten expected in October.
According to information provided on that date by a source at MetroBus, which operates public passenger transport in the Maputo Metropolitan Area, the company and the IFC signed an agreement to that effect at that time, which provided for the acquisition of 300 electric buses and the installation of the respective charging network by 2025.
The Minister of Transport and Logistics told journalists that the acquisition of electric buses within the surface metro transport project, light rail systems and rapid buses (BRT), with the support of private investment, remains a priority for the Government, adding that some electric vehicles are already operational in the country as part of MetroBus’ initiatives.
“We are talking about 300 buses that were more or less associated with the installation of the factory in our country, and what we are doing is continuing to work with partners so that we can have a factory assembling buses in our country and reduce acquisition costs.” It is a task that we will continue to carry out within our means and the opportunities that investors have to continue investing,” added Matlombe.
The Mozambican government plans to begin decarbonising transport in the Maputo metropolitan area by 2030, focusing on gas and electric vehicles, according to the Energy Transition Strategy (ETS), which Lusa reported in February last year.
The new strategy, put forward in the Government’s plan, which foresees investments of around US$80 billion (€73 billion) by 2050, includes, in one of its plans for urban transport, “the transition to public transport modes” in metropolitan areas, including mass transport such as surface metro, light rail systems and rapid buses (BRT), starting with the Maputo metropolitan area.
The decarbonisation of urban transport will start by 2030 in Maputo, “with the introduction of BRT and other mass public transport, and with 15% of public transport using cleaner energy sources instead of diesel”. Between 2030–2040, “this figure will rise to 50% of urban public passenger transport in the Maputo metropolitan area, while the share in the north-centre will rise to 15% and 7.5% in the remaining urban centres in the south of the country”.
PME/AYLS // AYLS
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