Maputo, Aug. 22, 2025 (Lusa) - The post-election violence in Mozambique caused losses of €2.8 million to Rede Viária de Moçambique (Revimo) in 2024, according to data from the company responsible for operating more than 670 kilometres of roads in the country.
In the 2024 report and accounts, which Lusa had access to on Friday, it is stated that during the demonstrations that followed the general elections on 9 October, "the road infrastructures concessioned to Revimo, including the toll plazas and collection systems, were the targets of violent events", with "road blockades, vandalisation and burning of the roads and tolls and the maintenance centre and unit in Maputo and Gaza, respectively".
It adds that these actions “resulted in accumulated losses and loss of revenue up to the end of the year,” estimated at 211 million meticais (€2.8 million).
"The situation described above forced the company to interrupt collection operations in 13 of the 16 tolls under its management, due to the lack of conditions for collection (security and infrastructure), which in turn affected 418 direct Revimo employees, and 1,004 indirect employees of subcontractors, most of them young people," reads the document, recalling that it employed 654 workers at the end of the year.
The situation affected Revimo's performance, which posted profits of 54.7 million meticais (€736,000) at the end of the year, but a reduction of 65% compared to the net results of 2023, a result that "was adversely affected by the extreme natural events that occurred in the first quarter and, above all, by the post-election demonstrations that have affected the country since the fourth quarter".
The impact was also due, says the report, which is responsible for the construction, upkeep and maintenance of roads in the country, to the "greater financial effort resulting from the increase in infrastructure maintenance and upkeep costs, in particular the start of the implementation of the specialised maintenance project for the Maputo - KaTembe bridge".
At issue was the biggest challenge to the election results in Mozambique since the first multi-party elections (1994), led by presidential candidate Venâncio Mondlane, who does not recognise the official results of the general elections on 9 October last year.
One of the forms of protest, which lasted almost the entire first half of this year, was the boycott of tolls throughout the country, with toll booths and other infrastructure destroyed all over the country.
After several months of social unrest and demonstrations contesting the election results - victory for Daniel Chapo and the Mozambique Liberation Front (Frelimo, in power since 1975) - which led to looting, destruction of public and private property, and around 400 deaths, the head of state and Venâncio Mondlane met for the first time on 23 March in Maputo and agreed to pacify the country, a meeting that was repeated on 20 May.
Even so, the roads concessioned to Revimo, totalling 672.9 kilometres, recorded an annual average daily traffic of 76,055 vehicles, an increase of 42.6% compared to 2023, while the annual average daily revenue increased by 12.3% to 7,278 million meticais.
Revimo currently manages 287 kilometres of the N6 road between Beira and Machipanda, 71.4 kilometres of the Maputo ring road, including the R804 Marracuene - Macaneta road, with a length of 12 kilometres, and the Maputo - KaTembe bridge and its connecting roads between Maputo and the Ponta D'Ouro border, Zitundo - Vila da Ponta D'Ouro and Bela Vista - Boane, with 187 kilometres.
Also, the R453 Macia - Praia de Bilene road, with a length of 38.5 km, the N101 Macia - Chokwé road with a length of 61.7 km and the R448, from Chokwé to Macarretane, with 21.8 km.
The company is 68.7% owned by the Mozambique Roads Fund, in addition to the Bank of Mozambique Pension Fund and the National Social Security Institute, each with a 14.7% stake.
PVJ/ADB // ADB.
Lusa
