Meshack Mabogoane
The road to a full-scale market economy in Mozambique=20 is, like peace, “irreversible”, President Joachim=20 Chissano said in Sandton recently when he addressed a=20 special meeting of businesspeople.
He said joint ventures for the development of major=20 infrastructure were the “only policy option available”=20 and “we may no longer guarantee the development of our=20 countries in an isolated manner”.=20
He said Mozambique had succesfully attracted foreign=20 investment in mining. The country’s minerals include=20 bauxite, chromium and iron ore estimated at 167-million=20 tons. The rehabilitation of the Moatize coal mine was,=20 he said, “most advanced”.=20
South Africa is playing a major role in Mozambican=20 infrastructural development. Recently, Minister of=20 Transport Mac Maharaj, Trade and Industry Minister=20 Trevor Manuel and Minister of Public Enterprise Stella=20 Sicgau visited Mozambique to discuss the upgrading of=20 Maputo harbour and the construction of the Maputo- Nkomati railway and road.=20
The Development Bank of South Africa made known this=20 week a R3-million loan, payable over 15 years at 14=20 percent, to the Telecommunica=8Does de Mo=8Dambique to=20 improve telecommunications between the two countries.
South African farmers, Chissano said, are “looking=20 forward to moving to Mozambique”. Only 10 percent of=20 Mozambique’s arable land is under cultivation. Land is=20 not for sale but long-term leases are available.=20
Plans for the Zambezi Valley Development Programme,=20 broached by the colonial regime to provide a grid=20 system of dams and electricity and stimulate=20 agriculture, were in the “advanced planning stage” and=20 could involve Brazil, Portugal, South Africa and other=20 development agencies.=20