Mozambique is seeking funding to build a toll road to link its southern tourist province of Inhambane with South Africa and Zimbabwe, a government official said on Tuesday.
Inhambane provincial governor Aires Aly said an investors conference would be held on May 16 to raise awareness in Africa and overseas about the importance of having a road running through the ”tourist corridor.”
Aly said the 540km highway would encourage the movement of tourists and business people from South Africa to tourist and natural gas rich provinces through the capital Maputo.
Inhambane has some of Mozambique’s most strategic tourist attractions, including beaches and islands, which have been vastly improved through mainly South African and Arab investment.
The proposed project follows the recent establishment of the Great Limpopo Transfrontier Park, linking South Africa’s Kruger National Park, Mozambique’s Limpopo National Park, and Zimbabwe’s Gonarezhou. The cost of the road is still to be worked out.
Mozambique has at least one fully-functioning road running between Maputo and the South African city of Witbank, which is part of the Maputo Development Corridor.
South Africa is Mozambique’s main trading partner and leading investor followed by Great Britain and Portugal, the former colonial power. – Sapa-AFP