US$700 for new Zambezi dam

Maputo, 16 Nov (AIM) – The Mozambican government hopes to mobilise over US$700 million to build a new dam at Mugeba, in Mocuba district, in the central province of Zambezia.

According to the Minister of Public Works, Joao Machatine, cited in Monday’s issue of the Maputo daily “Noticias”, the dam is part of the government’s National Infrastructure Development Plan for the period 2020-2040. An environmental impact study on the Mugeba dam was completed last year.

Machatine said this will be one of the largest investments during this government’s term of office (2020-2024). The dam will be able to store 658 million cubic metres of water. He believed it would be crucial for flood control on the lower reaches of the Licungo River. The Licungo regularly floods the downstream districts of Namacurra and Maganja da Costa.

The new dam, the Minister said, will also conserve water for human consumption and for irrigation, and will generate electricity.

The dam will be one of the main themes of an International Investors’ Conference for the Development of Zambezia, to be held on 26-27 November.

Speaking in Namacurra, Machatine said the Council of Ministers (Cabinet) has just set up an economic team to provide technical assistance and advice to the province, in order to transform its natural resources into real wealth.

There were enormous challenges ahead for Zambezia in addition to the Mugeba dam, he said, including building the new port at Macuse, and the railway linking it to Chitima in Tete province, exploiting agricultural value chains and investing in new irrigation systems.

He expected projects set up under the government’s flagship agricultural development programme, Sustenta, to create 10,000 direct jobs in Zambezia.
(AIM)