In early April, Prime Minister Carlos Agostinho do Rosario presented the Mozambique government’s next five years plan (2015-2019). This includes plans to build a new port and railway for the export of coal from the Moatize coal basin in the inland Tete province. The coastal town of Macuse, in Zambezia province, northeast of, and close to, the port city of Quelimane, which is also the capital of Zambezia, is to be the site.

The new $3.5-billion rail line will cover some 525 km to link the new coal loading harbour to the coalfields. This is to be built and operated by a private company. The five year plan also envisages increasing the proportion of the country’s national and regional roads that are in ‘reasonable’ or ‘good’ condition from the current 68% to 75%.

Rosario confirmed plans to build a second hydroelectric power station at the Cahora Bassa dam and construct two new dams for hydroelectric power at Mpanda Nkua and Boroma. All three locations are in Tete province and all are on the Zambesi river. More reliable and cheaper power for the province and country will benefit many miners.

Mining Weekly reported that on the same day as the prime Minister announced the five-year plan, Ministry of Transport and Communications Permanent Secretary Pedro Inglês reported that “the government expected full operations to start soon on the Tete to Nacala railway line (through Malawi). This will be a major route for the export of coal from the Moatize district through the Nacala port to the wider world. Currently, the only route available is the Sena line from Tete to the port city of Beira. A branch line of the Nacala railway, from the junction at Cuamba to the Niassa province capital of Lichinga, will also soon complete its refurbishment and return to operation.”