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Update on the New Bridge & Road in Mozambique, Ponta Do Ouro

One day, two different passport stamps and an epic road trip. This will soon be possible with the opening of Africa’s longest suspension bridge stretching from Catembe to Maputo and a new road stretching between Kosi Bay in KwaZulu Natal and Maputo.

Scheduled to open later this year, the new road and bridge will connect Maputo with the Catembe district, and could cut four hours off the drive time from the KwaZulu Natal border to Maputo, not to mention significantly reduce travel times between the Mozambique capital and some of the country’s tourism destinations, including Bela Vista, situated in the middle of Catembe and Ponta do Ouro.

Travellers will quite literally be able to start their day off in KwaZulu Natal, explore some of Southern Africa’s finest spots before calling it a day in Mozambique for sundowners.

 

1) Listeriosis: Mozambique, Namibia, Zambia, Malawi, Botswana, recall SA meat

Mozambique, Zambia, Namibia, Malawi and Botswana have all recalled South African processed meat products after a deadly listeria outbreak.

The outbreak claimed 180 lives in South Africa. Tiger Brands issued a recall on their cold meats following listeria being found in their polony. Rainbow Chickens’ polony was also recalled.

“(Ministry) asks that all owners of establishments that commercialise these products start to withdraw from the shelves due to the danger that this constitutes to health,” a statement from Mozambique’s ministry of agriculture and food security said.

Zambia’s high commissioner to South Africa, Emmanuel Mwamba, urged South African retail chain stores operating in Zambia to recall ready-to-eat meat products imported from that country following the confirmation of the source of listeria bacteria.

The Malawi Competition and Fair Trading Commission on Monday asked wholesalers and retailers to remove imported meat products from South Africa from their shelves, and Namibia on Monday suspended imports of processed meat.

Lawrence McDougall, the CEO of Tiger Brands told a news conference the company had not yet worked out the financial impact of suspending production at two of the company’s factories that were linked to the outbreak.

MacDougall did acknowledge that the government had linked the ST6 strain of listeria bacteria detected in Enterprise facilities with the outbreak that has resulted in 180 deaths.

“We are being extra cautious and vigilant, we are recalling all products made from the two facilities” affected, he said, adding that the government had only ordered the company to withdraw three product lines.

“Any loss of life is tragic. It is devastating for me to have our products linked to this outbreak.”

Recalls

Enterprise-branded products accounted for 28.2 percent of processed meat sales in South Africa in 2017. The local market was worth R6.02-billion last year alone.

Tiger Brands, one of South Africa’s food giants, made pre-tax profits of R4.27-billion in 2017.

Shoprite and Pick n Pay, have also pulled products made by Rainbow Chickens after Motsoaledi confirmed that listeriosis had been identified in samples taken from one of its facilities.

Motsoaledi said on Sunday that Enterprise and Rainbow Chicken’s registration to export their products outside of South Africa had been temporarily suspended.

As fears of listeria continued to rise in South Africa, several other smaller food retailers have also announced product recalls.

Woolworths announced it was recalling dozens of sausage and ham products “as an additional precautionary measure”.

The United Nations has previously said South Africa’s listeriosis outbreak is believed to be the largest-ever worldwide.

The infection mainly affects children and has a three-week incubation period, making it difficult to track.

Contamination in humans — especially those with compromised immune systems — can result in flu-like illness, infection of the bloodstream and, in severe cases, infection of the brain which can prove fatal.

Reference: #Source: Times Live

2)Young Vietnamese caught with four rhino horns at Maputo International Airport – Mozambique

A young Vietnamese man is currently detained, on charges of trafficking in wildlife resources. He was caught at Maputo international Airport, in possession of a suitcase containing four rhino horns, with an estimated weight of seven kilograms, O País reports.

According to the same source, the suitcase was destined to South Korea, from where it would follow to Vietnam.

The young man denies his involvement in the crime, and says that the suitcase was delivered to him by a stranger who had contacted him via Facebook and promised him 50,000 meticais, claiming that the suitcase was carrying clothes and shoes.

Meanwhile, police say that investigations are still underway and that the detainee will be held accountable.

As a result of police operations last week, young people were arrested for housebreaking, commercial establishments, warehouse diversion and theft of car accessories.

Reference: #Source: O País

3) Syrah Resources ‍signs mining agreement with government of Mozambique

Syrah Resources Limited (ASX: SYR) (Syrah or the Company) is pleased to announce that the Mining Agreement has been signed by His Excellency Ernesto Max Elias Tonela, the Minister of Mineral Resources and Energy, on behalf of Government of the Republic of Mozambique, and Syrah’s wholly owned subsidiary, Twigg Exploration and Mining, Limitada.

The final step in the process is for the Mining Agreement to be presented to the Administrative Court in Mozambique for sanctioning after which it will be binding and enforceable. The Company will provide further updates when available.

The Mining Agreement consolidates all prior project documents and approvals. It also provides the Company with clarity around the governing laws and contractualises the mining rights and other obligations for the Balama Project in Mozambique.

About Syrah Resources

Syrah Resources Limited (ASX code: SYR) is an Australian-based industrial minerals and technology company. Constructing and commissioning activities of the Balama Graphite Project (Balama) in Mozambique are essentially complete. Syrah produced its first saleable flake graphite product in November 2017 and transitioned into operations on 1 January 2018. Balama will be the leading global producer of high purity graphite. Balama production is targeted to supply traditional industrial graphite markets and emerging technology markets. Syrah is also developing a downstream Battery Anode Material plant in Louisiana, USA. Syrah has successfully completed extensive product certification test work with several major battery producers for the use of Balama spherical graphite in the anode of lithium ion batteries.

Reference: #Source: ASX/Media Release

 

4) The Jazz & Golf Summit: Coming Soon to Maputo

At a time when tourism is at the centre of government priorities as an alternative source of economic diversification, the city of Maputo will host its first Jazz & Golf Summit on 12 and 13 October.

The Jazz & Golf business summit aims to attract business people and investors with strong interests in the national tourism industry to Mozambique, and forms part of the Maputo International Tourism Fair, also taking place in the Mozambican capital in October.

A classic combination of business and leisure with a distinct network of high financial capacity entrepreneurs , the event is organised by the Mozambique Progressive Business Forum, an economic platform for business opportunity sharing and investment facilitation, in partnership with the National Institute of Tourism.

The initiative arises from a perceived need to strengthen the Mozambican internal market, share business opportunities and stimulate national and foreign investment in the tourism sector.

The Jazz & Golf Summit is the first economic summit of its type to be held in Africa, bringing together delegates from South Africa, Swaziland, Botswana, Angola, Portugal, China and the United States of America, among other countries, alongside politicians, entrepreneurs, bankers, tour operators, jazz musicians, golfers and other interested parties.

Golf is a strategic way of attracting investments, and often the occasion for high income segment business meetings. Golf has proven economic potential, being worth more than US$60 billion a year worldwide.

Jazz similarly generates high turnover from festivals and sales, and represents a significant source of business and job opportunities.

Reference:#Source: O País

February 2018 Articles:

1) First National Summit on Peace and Reconciliation.

The first National Summit on Peace and Reconciliation, which has been taking place in Beira since yesterday, will produce a resolution that will embody a commitment to reconciliation and effective forgiveness among Mozambicans.

The Deputy Minister of Justice, Constitutional and Religious Affairs, Joaquim Veríssimo, made a statement to this effect at the opening of the event, adding that each participant should be a daily bearer of peace and tireless disseminator of the results and recommendations of the summit in their families and communities as a real contribution to the exercise of citizenship.

“The actions that are defined throughout the work of this summit will be incorporated into the project being drafted by the Council of Religions of Mozambique (COREM) to be implemented in the next five years (2018-2023), to be monitored and evaluated by all those involved,” he added.

Artemisa Franco, the coordinator of the Platform for Peace and National Reconciliation at COREM, said that the resolution to be produced would be signed by the main stakeholders and participants.

“The summit resolution will propose concrete solutions and condemn the high rates of political violence and intolerance in the country,” she said.

According to Franco, the general objectives of this event are to reinforce the spirit of peace, national reconciliation and unity of the nation; to pray for the divine and spiritual healing of souls; to identify challenges and inspire the spirit of cohesion, collaboration and ways of improving dialogue and broadening ongoing peace efforts; and to develop a collective understanding of the future of Mozambique free of political-military conflicts, and with values based on respect, social justice and human rights.

Franco said it was hoped that the summit would also serve to boost an open national dialogue between various segments of society, especially among the main political contenders, namely the government and Renamo.

A total of nine themes were listed, to be addressed by Sheik Aminudim, president of COREM; General Hama Thai, a member of the National Defence Council; Leonardo Simão, chairman of the Joaquim Chissano Foundation; His Majesty Hosi Mahumani, of the South African Traditional Authority; João Barros, director of the Centre for Strategic and International Studies at the Higher Institute of International Relations (ISRI); Selma Innocencia, journalist; Paula Vera Cruz, president of Fórum Mulher and Prakash Prelhad, chairman of the General Assembly of CTA.

The governor of Sofala, Helena Taipo, the German ambassador, Detlev Wolter, and the representative of the president of the Beira Municipal Council, José Manuel, also spoke at the opening of the summit yesterday.

Helena Taipo highlighted that Sofala was chosen to host this summit as the province most affected by the conflict and the region where the leader of Renamo is based.

The summit ends today with the presentation of conclusions and recommendations, and final considerations to be made by the director of the Religious Affairs Department of the Ministry of Justice, Constitutional and Religious Affairs, Aaron Litsuri.

The date of the next summit, to take place next year, is also to be announced.

#Reference: Source: Notícias

 

 

2) 13 years of focus on the development of northern Mozambique – CDN

January 10 marked the 13th anniversary the North Development Corridor (CDN) investment in the socio-economic development of the northern region of Mozambique, and its quest for integrated iron and port infrastructures in the area.

“We are pleased that over the course of the 13 years we have contributed a lot to the improvement of the lives of the population in the northern region, and it is evident the development that our services bring to the provinces of Nampula and Niassa, where we largely operate,” CDN spokesman Sergio Paúnde said.

Among the landmarks in the CDN’s history are the railway link between the cities of Cuamba-Lichinga, Cuamba-Entre Lagos and the introduction of a goods train service between the port city of Nacala and the municipality of Lichinga, all actions that are contributing to a meaningful improvement in socio-economic conditions for the population in the region, a press release from the company reads.

The rail connection between Cuamba-Lichinga was completed in 2016 with the rehabilitation of the 262-kilometre section at a cost estimated at US$100 million.

The line was inaugurated on November 3 2016 by President Filipe Jacinto Nyusi and started passenger services on November 5. Freight services resumed on June 16, 2017, after a hiatus of more than 10 years.

After rehabilitation, the Cuamba-Entre Lagos connection was opened on February 2, 2017.

At present, the Cuamba-Lichinga section transports most people and goods, to the detriment of the other two sections that CDN operates, forcing the company to introduce passenger trains daily since the second half of last year.

Last year, CDN, the concessionaire also responsible for the operation of the port infrastructure in the north of Mozambique, carried about 50,000 passengers on 627 trains on the Nampula-Cuamba, Cuamba-Entre Lagos and Cuamba-Lichinga routes.

Currently, the CDN rolling stock serving the corridor consists of 732 wagons, of which 277 transport containers, 160 grain, 237 bulk cargo and 58 are tankers allocated to freight service.

The concession agreements of the Nacala port and the Northern Railway line were concluded on 29 September 2000 between the Government of the Republic of Mozambique as the Concession Authority, CDN as the Concessionaire and Mozambican Ports and Railways (CFM) in its capacity of public company that manages port goods and services in the country.

But it was only on January 10, 2005 that the CDN took over the management and operation of Nacala Port and the Northern Rail Line, which includes the Nacala-Porto-Nampula section, the Nampula-Cuamba section, the Cuamba Lichinga section and the branch line connecting Cuamba and the border district of Entre-Lagos.

About the North Corridor Development Company (CDN)

The Northern Development Corridor is a corporation created and registered in Mozambique whose objective is the integrated management, rehabilitation and commercial exploitation of the infrastructure of the Port of Nacala and of the railway network of the north of Mozambique. It is part of the Nacala Corridor Project, which covers the northern region of Mozambique, Malawi and Zambia.

The main objective of the CDN is to provide high-quality rail and port services, efficiency and safety in the infrastructures and concessions granted to the company, effectively serving the national and regional markets. In addition, the company seeks to modernise its infrastructure and management model in order to ensure service improvement and to become a competitive and sustainable company. The ultimate goal is to improve rail and port traffic by expanding and modernising the existing fleet, with particular attention to safety issues, ensuring the safety of its employees, passengers and equipment.

#Reference:Source: CND Press Release

 

 

3) China donates 7000 tons of rice to families affected, by rain in Mozambique. 

The Chinese government has donated 7,000 tons of rice to families affected by natural disasters in Mozambique, the Chinese ambassador to Maputo has announced.

Su Jian, quoted by the daily newspaper Notícias, said the donation represented “further proof of China’s vision of building common ground with partners in other countries”, and recalled China’s history of good relations with Mozambique.

The donation was unloaded in the ports of Beira and Maputo on Friday, with a ceremony in the Mozambican capital attended by the permanent secretary of the Ministry of State Administration and Public Administration, António Tchamo.

“The donation will assure assistance reaches families affected by the calamities, thus minimising their suffering,” Tchamo said

Mozambique is regularly hit by floods between October and April because of its geographic location, being subject to storm surges and at the same time downstream from most of the watersheds in southern Africa.

The government estimates that 447 million meticais (EUR 6.1 million) is needed to cope with the damage caused by the rain and cyclones that have hit the centre and north of the country in the last two weeks.

Twenty-one people have died in Mozambique’s current rainy season since October, with Niassa, Cabo Delgado, Nampula and Zambézia provinces worst affected.

#Reference:Source: Notícias

January 2018 Articles:

PDF Article:

Trade comunication_New Store_Ponta d'Ouro

 

1. Aviation Authority launches tender to award district air routes – Mozambique

National airlines have 60 days to express an interest in exploring domestic routes at the district level.

The Civil Aviation Regulatory Authority of Mozambique launched a tender for the concession of routes in this category on Monday.

Reference#: Source: Notícias

 

 

2. Voting has started in Nampula by-election – Mozambique

The majority of polling stations for the municipal by-election in Nampula, northern Mozambique, opened today without incident, sources say.

Mozambican Television (TVM) reported shortly after 7:00 a.m., the scheduled start of voting, that an polling station in the Escola Primária Completa of Napipine had failed to open because of lack of Electoral Administration Technical Secretariat (STAE) personnel, although voters were already queuing up.

Early mobilization was verified by the media in other places, where the citizens had started arriving two-and-a-half hours before the opening of the polls.

Alberto Luis, a spokesman for the National Election Commission (CNE) in Nampula province, told TVM that the rain that fell overnight in the wake of last week’s inclement weather may have disrupted the work of some teams, besides making it more difficult to access some of the 54 polling stations, as in Nahene.

The municipality has seen heavy rain destroy infrastructure, without further precipitation forecast today, albeit lighter.

Other sources covering the poll also told Lusa that there were delays in some places at the beginning of the vote, but these were seen as normal.

The CNE appealed on Tuesday for voters to vote as early as possible.

The polls are open until 6:00 p.m., with 296,590 registered voters and five candidates on the ballot papers.

The three parties with a parliamentary seat, Frelimo, Renamo and MDM, join the Amusi movement and the Humanist Party in seeking to succeed Mahamudo Amurane, the Nampula mayor who was shot dead at the door of his house on October 4.

The government has decreed a special holiday in the municipality to help voters get to the polling stations timeously.

Reference#: Source: Lusa

 

 

3. Heavy rainfall in northern Mozambique: Death toll at nine and damage considerable

The death toll from the heavy rains and strong winds in Nampula over the past week has risen to nine. The balance of damages, updated last Saturday by provincial governor Victor Borges, puts the number of houses destroyed by bad weather there at 450.

Victor Borges visited Nacala’s ‘baixa’, where infrastructure including buildings and electricity substations were affected. The railway line was silted up with sand washed and blown onto it, and many parked vehicles in various parts of the city were dragged along roads by floodwaters, some for several hundred metres.

Some buildings, where banks, courts, and education and human development institutions operate, are among those that have been partially silted up.

All of central Nacala was rendered impassable by mud, even pedestrians experiencing difficulties over the weekend. Commerce has hardly operated in the last two days.

In the area known as ‘Matola’, one of the worst affected by erosion, the governor noted that if the rains continued to fall with the same intensity, the electrical substation there would soon be buried completely.

The Port of Nacala was affected by the large amount of sand dragged over it, and the Nacala Corridor railway line was still closed to traffic yesterday.

“We are still assessing the damage caused by rain in our province, but the infrastructure situation in Nacala worries us a lot, because some of it is in critical condition,” Governor Borges said.

In Nampula, rain has destroyed 7,935 houses, affecting 68,545 people, along with 150 classrooms, 6 health units and 80 electricity power poles. Bad weather also interrupted traffic on the Meconta -Corrane, Naguema -Mossuril, Monapo-Quixaxe and Mecubúri – Muite roads.

Meanwhile, water at Guruè Station, in Zambézia province’s Licungo basin, has reached its highest level in two years. This increased levels in Mocuba and Nante as a consequence, represent a risk of flooding in the lowlands.

According to data from the National Directorate of Water Resources Management (DNGRH), levels have risen in all the main river basins in the northern region by last Friday, and floods were expected in several villages.

Reference# Source: Notícias

December 2017 Articles:

1. Mozambique to Harare: A border post with fewer people and many military roadblocks

The main border post between Mozambique and Zimbabwe at Machipanda is experiencing below-normal volumes for the second consecutive day, migration officials told Lusa yesterday.

Fewer Zimbabweans are on the move following the Wednesday military intervention against the government of President Robert Mugabe.

“We can consider the numbers abnormal, since the daily average is 500 to 600 Zimbabweans crossing, and we are currently under 200,” a Mozambican migration official said.

Lusa had already noted smaller numbers of Zimbabwean on Wednesday, especially of traders who buy in Mozambique to resell in the neighbouring country, with none of the normal peak hour queues.

A Zimbabwean migration official admitted that the border had registered a slowdown, with “fewer people crossing the border in both directions” after the army announced that “the [political] crisis in the country has risen to another level”.

Buses carrying traders between the Mozambican city of Chimoio, central Manica province, and Harare, Zimbabwe’s capital, have not been in service since Wednesday, a businessman told Lusa.

“They were discouraged by roadblocks between the border and Harare, with a lot of military controls,” Lovemore Kamoto, a Zimbabwean trader, told Lusa at Machipanda while on one of his regular trips.

A taxi driver, Noah Anderson, said the massive presence of the army along the border and on the road linking Mutare was deterring the population.

“The movement is very low, not the usual,” he said, pointing out that he faces two heavily armed army road blocks every five kilometres between the border and the city of Mutare.

The military stop and search civilian vehicles and demand identification of anyone entering or leaving the country.

Machipanda is also the main gateway for inland African countries that use the Mozambican port of Beira in the Indian Ocean.

In the capital, Harare, public institutions, commerce and public transport returned to normal operation this Thursday. The main point of debate was whether or not Mugabe had left the capital for the Roside region on Wednesday.

Tensions in the country escalated on Monday after army chief General Constantino Chiwenga condemned the dismissal of the country’s vice president and warned that the army could “intervene” unless an end was put to the “purge” within the Zanu-PF, party in power since the independence of Zimbabwe in 1980.

Mugabe’s Zanu-PF party reacted the day after the unprecedented warning, accusing the head of the Armed Forces of “treacherous conduct” and saying General Constantine Chiwenga’s comments were “clearly” intended to disrupt national peace and constituted treachery, “since they were made to incite an uprising.”

On Wednesday, the Zimbabwean army placed Robert Mugabe under house arrest and seized control of the capital, Harare, in an operation targeting, it said, “the criminals” surrounding the world’s oldest head of state, at 93 years of age, and which was not “a coup against the government”.

Reference#Source: Lusa

2. Regulation to monitor foreign trade underway in Mozambique

The government is developing a regulation to monitor foreign trade and prevent the illicit import and export of goods.

Minister of Industry and Commerce Max Tonela says the regulations will ensure that timely information relevant to quantity, prices, origin and destination of imported and exported goods becomes available.

Speaking on Friday in Maputo during the closing of the XV Coordinating Council of his ministry, Tonela said that the decision to proceed with the preparation of the regulation comes after work in coordination with the Economy and Finance and the Bank of Mozambique highlighted current weaknesses in the monitoring process.

Tonela also said that Mozambique continued to register a deficit in the trade balance.

“Between 2006 and 2016, the cumulative total value of exports was more than US$33 billion, while the value of imports in the same period was about US$57 billion,” he said.

The minister reiterated that the country’s exports continued to be predominantly based on megaproject products such as coal, natural gas from Pande, aluminium from Mozal, electric power and heavy sands, among others.

Meanwhile, he said, the value of traditional export products such as cashew nuts, fish, and cotton had increasingly fallen in international markets.

“Another challenge we are faced with is under and over-invoicing in both exports and imports,” he said.

At the meeting, attended by senior executives from the Ministry of Industry and Commerce, Tonela also stated that ongoing weaknesses faced by the agricultural sector in relation to the circulation and placement of surpluses, in particular for the supply of domestic industry, was worrisome.

“The Coordinating Council recognised the need for greater discipline in the agricultural marketing process, with the Grain Institute, a stakeholder in the process, focusing its intervention in the fields of stakeholder registration, import and export balance of cereals, interconnection with industries in the process of absorption of surpluses, among others,” he said.

Reference#Source: Notícias

3. Emirates Flag Carrier to launch flights to Mozambique

United Arab Emirates flag carrier Emirates Airways plans to launch flights to Mozambique following a recent agreement with local carrier Linhas Aéreas (LAM), an official said on Friday.Mozambique’s consul in Dubai, José Bernardo Maneia told the state-run Noticias newspaper that discussions are underway between LAM and Emirates about how to consummate the agreement.

“Air links will increasingly bring us closer to the United Arab Emirates, knowing their potential in various sectors of development,” Maneia is quoted as saying.

Top Emirates officials have previously listed Mozambique as one of the company’s potential destinations.

Emirates has expanded rapidly in Africa to benefit from increased demand that accompanied growing links between the Middle East and the continent, as well as cater to passengers flying to and from Asia.

Reference#Source: APA

November 2017 Articles:

1. The Legends: Former Barcelona players win against Mozambique’s old glories

2. Mozambique grows 3.8% this year

Standard Bank’s economic analysis unit estimates that Mozambique’s economy will grow by 3.8 percent this year and slow to 3.5 percent next year due to a lack of agreement with the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

“We have lowered our GDP growth prospects from 4.1 to 3.8 percent this year, and from 5.7 to 3.5 percent next year,” the South African bank analysts write in a report on African economies.

In the document, which was sent to investors and to which Lusa has access, the South African bank research department says that forecast downgrade “reflects our expectations that an IMF-financed economic adjustment programme will not be implemented quickly enough to ensure the return of positive investor sentiment and donor support”.

For Standard Bank, “an IMF-funded programme would accelerate the return to macroeconomic stability,” but this assumption seems unlikely, at least given the statements made by the director of the IMF’s African department to the Mozambican media.

During the IMF and World Bank Annual Meetings in Washington, Selassie said that no financial assistance programme is planned for this and next year and reinforced the need for more information on the country’s ‘hidden debt’.

In the part of the report on Mozambique, Standard Bank writes that the increase in coal production should sustain economic growth and that the next two years should be “politically busy” with municipal elections in October 2018 and presidential and legislative elections one year later.

Reference: #Source: Lusa

3. Malaria, cancer and childhood diseases

Mozambique will be able to soon expand diagnosis and detection of breast and cervical cancer, diabetes, malaria and various childhood diseases to rural areas, thanks to equipment secured by the Office of the Wife of the President of the Republic, Isaura Nyusi, in partnership with the US company, KPI Healthcare Solutions.

The two ultrasound diagnostic devices and 500 high-precision portable units will be used to detect diseases in time to treat them, ideally preventing death from treatable causes.

Disease diagnosis is a major challenge for health authorities In Mozambique, and the situation in rural areas is particularly serious. The portable nature of the equipment secured by the First Lady’s Office in particular will help address this problem.

Following the offer, announced on Monday, the equipment was formally delivered to First Lady Isaura Nyusi, who is visiting the United States, on Tuesday, at the headquarters of the supplier company, where she met the donors.

One of Isaura Nyusi’s concerns was to prolong the advantageous use of this equipment by ensuring that the necessary technical assistance will be available, and in reply she obtained assurances that Mozambican personnel would be trained in the use of the equipment.

Strengthening partnerships and seeking solutions to diseases that mainly affect women and children in Mozambique is the main objective of Isaura Nyusi’s visit to the United States, where she has been since last Sunday. Now, with the new equipment available, the First Lady believes that Mozambique will speed up the reduction in infant mortality and cancer deaths.

According to information obtained by Notícias, the machines in question are equipped with state-of-the-art technology allowing the functioning of the internal organs to be observed in real time. There are also X-ray machines that use modern and easy-to-operate systems.

During the meeting, the First Lady was told that the company, which represents several brands of health equipment, could also help in the design and construction of appropriate infrastructures for this type of machinery, as well as the adaptation of the existing ones to allow the installation of new equipment.

The company can also introduce new technology which will revolutionise the operation of the devices currently used in hospitals in Mozambique, fitting them to new diagnostic requirements.

Rashaid Ahmed, a partner at KPI Healthcare Solutions, said at the company’s presentation that one of the advantages of using this technology was the creation of a technology network to share patient information between different health units and source appropriate solutions in good time.

Reference: #By Isaías Muthimba, in California

Source: Notícias

4. Meat ban update: Mozambique maintains ban

The National Veterinary Administration has decided to maintain the ban on imports of bovines, goats, sheep, pigs and their products, by-products and fodder from infected areas in South Africa, Zimbabwe and Malawi. The ban was imposed following the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in those countries last August.

Veterinary authorities have however decided to lift the ban on the entry of meat and meat products from areas considered free of foot-and-mouth disease in South Africa.

A statement sent to Noticias notes that the measures are the result of an assessment of the outbreak of foot-and-mouth disease in, and confined to, a containment zone in Limpopo province, Mopani district, Guiyani municipality.

The list of prohibited import products excludes those subject to a treatment process which deactivates the foot-and-mouth virus and meat deboned immediately after slaughter.

Additional measures to be implemented in the country include intensified surveillance of the movement and transit of animals, animal products and by-products and fodder at the country’s entry points.

“Routine inspection of livestock in the border districts of Maputo, Gaza and Manica, mandatory visual inspection with examination of the oral cavity and hooves of all cattle, goats, sheep and pigs in the districts bordering the Republic of South Africa” are in force, the note reads.

Measures including cattle vaccination in the provinces of Maputo, Gaza and Manica will be reviewed in the light of the outbreak in South Africa.

Foot-and-mouth disease is a highly contagious viral disease occurring among ruminants and swine, with the southern and central areas of Mozambique worst affected.

Reference: #Source: Notícias

5. Government says Mozambique could grow

Prime Minister of Mozambique Carlos Agostinho do Rosario said on Wednesday in Maputo that the country is in a position to grow between 6 percent and 7 percent in 2019, compared with 5.5 percent forecast for 2018.

“The rate of economic growth makes us believe that, starting in 2019, our country will grow at rates of 6 percent to 7 percent,” Agostinho do Rosario said during questions for members of the government in parliament.

Mozambique has been experiencing better macro-economic stability, and the gross domestic product will grow 4.7 percent this year and 5.3 percent in 2018.

“The implementation of fiscal consolidation measures will allow us to direct more resources to investment in agriculture, energy, tourism and infrastructure, which will have a multiplier effect on the economy in terms of job creation and increased income”, Agostinho do Rosario pointed out.

Rosario said that the government was strengthening public finance management mechanisms and undertaking actions aimed at regaining the confidence of cooperation partners, shaken by the scandal of the discovery of over EUR 2 billion of debt backed by state the Executive guarantees between 2013 and 2014.

“We continue to take actions to strengthen trust among our partners in such a way that the private sector has easy access to financing in the international market,” the Mozambican prime minister said.

Mozambique registered lower economic growth in 2016 because of a combination of factors, aggravated by the suspension of international aid to the state budget following the discovery of the so-called hidden debts.

Donors to the budget are conditioning the resumption of aid on agreement with the International Monetary Fund, which says it will only resume financial assistance after full disclosure of the audit report on public debt.

Reference: #Source: PMA // PMC

6. Community benefits from new tourist resort in Maputo, Mozambique

The local community is a partner of a new tourist resort in the Maputo Special Reserve, retaining part of the profits from visits, the National Administration of Conservation Areas of Mozambique (ANAC) announced today.

“The parties agreed to share the profits, with 40 percent for the community and 60 percent for the private sector,” plus “six dollars for each hosted tourist” for community coffers, the ANAC says in a statement.

The Anvil Bay ecotourism venture is located at Ponta Chemucane in Matutuine district, and is worth US$2.5 million – US$1.5 million of which came from the Bell Foundation representing the private sector and the other million paid by the community.

The government of Mozambique supported the project in the amount of $500,000, the remaining $500,000 being sourced through an interest-free loan from African Safari Lodge, repayable over 10 years from 2018.

The opening of Anvil Bay on Monday comes seven years after the government signed a concession agreement with the Ahi Zameni Chemucane Community Association to implement the project.

The Maputo Special Reserve benefited from a fauna restocking process in August. About 1,500 animals were transferred, including 450 impala and 281 zebra. The reserve also received stocks of wild boar, kudu, inhala and piva.

Reference: #Source: Lusa

October 2017 Articles:

1. Vietnamese Buddhism introduced in Africa, Mozambique

The Vietnam Buddhist Sangha (VBS) Central Committee has recently held a grand ceremony in Maputo, Mozambique, to make public the Vietnam Buddhist Association (VBA) and launch the plan to establish a Vietnamese Buddhist Centre in Mozambique, also the first of its kind in Africa.

Addressing the event, Most Venerable Thich Duc Thien, General Secretary of the VBS Executive Council, spoke highly of Mozambique’s licensing of the VBA and expressed his hope that the association will contribute to strengthening solidarity among the Vietnamese community in the country, and consolidating friendship between the two nations.

He said the VBS will build a Vietnamese Cultural Centre covering more than four hectares in Mozambique, with a pagoda in the centre.

Arao Litsuri, a representative from the Mozambican Government, expressed his hope that Vietnamese Buddhist followers will introduce Vietnamese culture to local people and contribute to charity activities and poverty reduction in the country.

On this occasion, the VBS presented 300 schoolbags to poor students in Mozambique’s mountainous province of Tete via the Mozambican Ministry of Education and Culture./.

Reference: #Source: Vietnam News Agency

September 2017 Articles:

2. US renews partnership with Mozambique against HIV epidemic

The governments of the United States of America and Mozambique today renewed their partnership in the fight against AIDS by announcing a joint annual plan that provides for expanded access to HIV prevention and treatment services in the country.

The plan has an associated budget of about US$400 million, to be invested by the US government through the US President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), Mozambique Health Minister Nazira Abdula and US Ambassador to Mozambique Dean Pittman announced jointly at a press conference in Maputo.

Aimed at supporting the country’s efforts to achieve control of the epidemic by 2020, within the framework of UNAIDS objectives 90-90-90, PEPFAR assistance will strengthen the action of the various stakeholders involved in the HIV response, such as the National AIDS Council, the Ministry of Health, multilateral partners, implementation partners, civil society and the private sector.

Among the various clinical goals it sets for 2018, the operational plan hopes to bring 375,000 new patients into antiretroviral treatment, bringing the total number of people living with HIV who receive therapy in the country to 1.262 million.

The strategy also foresees the strengthening of prevention activities, focusing on strengthening the provision of services to populations most exposed to the risk of HIV infection. Additional efforts will be undertaken in this regard to reach young people aged 15-29 years. Programs targeted at priority populations, such as sex workers and their clients, men who have sex with men, prisoners, and migrant workers will also be expanded.

The improvement in health services retention indicators for patients undergoing antiretroviral treatment, including pregnant and lactating women, is also a priority, with the aim of improving the quality of life and health of the people living with HIV, and drastically reducing the number of new infections.

Speaking to journalists about Mozambique’s approach towards controlling the HIV epidemic, Ambassador Pittman praised the Mozambican authorities for their decision to implement and expand the “Test and Start” health strategy, which lets people with HIV start antiretroviral treatment as soon as they discover their HIV status.

Since its launch in Mozambique in 2004, PEPFAR investment in Mozambique has totalled US$3 billion, the main results being the improvement of health care provided in the country and the increase in the number of people access to HIV prevention and treatment services.

In Mozambique, PEPFAR is implemented by the US Embassy through the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), the US Department of State and the Department of Defence, and the US Peace Corps.

Reference: #Source: US Embassy in Maputo / Press Release

August 2017 Articles:

1. Police Extorting money from tourists.

Mozambican Interior Minister Basílio Monteiro says the Mozambican police must stop mistreating tourists, because such practices are harmful to the country’s image.

“We have registered many complaints from tourists about our agents’ attitude, and must urgently rethink strategies aimed at ending these situations,” the daily Notícias quotes Monteiro as saying.

Speaking during the inauguration of new National Migration Service (SENAMI) staff, Monteiro said that the spread of images of police extorting money from tourists or otherwise disturbing them have generated a negative image of Mozambique as a tourist destination.

“These acts are often recorded using audiovisual means and then disseminated throughout the world with the speed that information and information technologies provide, creating an image that is unfavourable to the normal flow of tourists,” the Mozambican interior minister said.

Agents of law and order who come in contact with tourists, Monteiro continued, should be guided by standards of good service and treat tourists courteously, always within the framework of Mozambican laws.

Reference: #Source: Lusa

2. Two places to mention where, Mozambique may be producing wine by 2020

The Ministry of Agriculture and Food Security’s Third Coordinating Council has given rise to a three-day visit to several districts of the country’s capital province, seeking solutions to the problems presented.

Minister José Pacheco’s visit began with the producers of Infulene Valley, who presented three main concerns: an obstructed irrigation ditch which caused flooding after rain; the lack of road access to get fresh vegetables to market; and lack of proper land right use to protect producers’ investment.

On Thursday, Pacheco went to inspect infrastructure at first hand and reiterated his promise that rehabilitation of the trench would begin next week and access road building soon thereafter, and said he would initiate a search for information about the land right situation within Matola Municipal Council.

Pacheco also visited successful horticultural producers who supply supermarket chains in the capital and poultry farmers, all promised government support for the expansion of production.

Visiting chicken producer Higest, the minister challenged the group to expand market share during the ban on chicken imports. Higest intends to invest US$25 million to triple domestic production over the next two years.

Pacheco also visited a public-private vineyard investment project involving the Portuguese Visabeira group. The project currently covers just half a hectare and is producing non-marketable grapes, but is expected to start producing marketable grapes within two years.
The main focus, however, is on national wine production, which is expected to start in 2020.

This ‘Experimenta Vinha’ project is also rolling out in Manica province’s Sussundenga district.

Today and tomorrow, the Minister Pancheco is to visit other parts of Maputo province to monitor work towards the goals of the 2016/17 agricultural campaign. Among his destinations are the districts of Magude and Manhiça, both potential food producers.

Reference: #Source: O País

July 2017 Articles:

1. Mozambique launches – The importance of birth registrations

Mozambique has launched an awareness program concerning civil registration and vital statistics.

The program, launched yesterday in Maputo and promoted by the Ministry of Justice, Constitutional and Religious Affairs through the National Directorate of Registries and Notaries, will promote the civil registration of all births in Mozambique.

The initiative also aims to show how a “computerized civil registry system that incorporates statistical data” can be useful “for the determination of government policies and plans, such as planning the number of schools to build, healthcare plans” and so on.

The awareness project is funded by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) and the World Vision organisation.

Mozambique adopted an electronic registration system in 2014, but has since then lacked resources for comprehensive implementation.

A year ago, Canada announced funding of 19.5 million Canadian dollars (more than EUR 12 million) over five years to try to overcome difficulties and support other reforms in the sector.

At the time, Marcouigi Corsi, UNICEF’s representative in Mozambique, stressed the importance of reforming the civil registry and creating a centralised system to certify the identity of children at birth.

Reference: #Source: Lusa

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2. World Wildlife Fund

The World Wildlife Fund, an international environmental non-governmental organization, has expressed concern about what it calls “unsustainable fishing of prawns” in Mozambique, APA can report on Sunday.

Prawns are one of Mozambique’s top marine export products, mainly to European countries, including Spain and Portugal.

WWF said some fisheries exports to Europe are done illegally, and the European Union countries must avoid engaging in activities which pose a threat to the existence of prawns in Mozambique.

“It’s a serious problem affecting the fishing industry and Mozambique loses $38 million a year due to illegal fishing, but a plan has been drawn up to deal with the problem,” read a WWF media statement seen by APA on Sunday.

Fishing contributes about four percent of Mozambique’s gross domestic product.

According to the WWF, Mozambique is negotiating with international partners to provide $80 million to purchase surveillance vessels to monitor its 2500 km coastline and curb illegal fishing.

The international environmental non-governmental organization added that the sub-Saharan African region loses an estimated $1billion annually due to illegal fishing.

A WWF media release also stated that in addition to the unsustainable fishing of prawns, there is also a possibility of the prawn catch from Mozambique being smuggled into the EU market.

Reference: #Source: APA

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3. Anadarko is the beginning of a partnership

US oil giant Anadarko is to spend about 1.5 million meticais, supporting the 13th Festival of School Games, which starts tomorrow, Friday, in Xai-Xai city, Gaza province.

A statement from the Ministry of Youth and Sports received by AIM says that the agreement formalising the support was signed in Maputo by the Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports, Ana Flávia Azinheira, and by the Director of Anadarko, in Mozambique, John Bretz.

Speaking at the time, the Deputy Minister Azinheira stressed the importance of school games, which this year will take place under the motto “School Sports, Conserving Nature”, combining the search for talent and the environmental protection agenda.

The event would also help athletes prepare for the the Community of Portuguese-speaking Countries (CPLP) games, she added.

“This support will help us achieve our main goal, which is to bring value to school games. We want to identify talented individuals and refer them to a training programme,” Azinheira said.

According to the deputy minister, the agreement signed with Anadarko is the beginning of a partnership that could be extended to other institutions.

“We are sure we will find more partners, because this is a project all companies can identify with because it involves society, children and communities”, she noted, adding that the games would also serve as an opportunity to spread an anti-poaching message.

Anadarko Mozambique director John Bretz said that the support was part of the company’s efforts to contribute to sustainable development in Mozambique.

“We are proud to support this initiative, which enhances Mozambican sports and the country, and which introduces in this edition awareness about the protection of nature, which is of great importance for the sustainable development of Mozambique and the world,” Bretz said.

“Being aware of its importance, Anadarko has been supporting various initiatives in the environmental area,” Bretz said, citing as an example the support given to Gorongosa National Park and the Niassa Reserve.

The 2017 edition of the School Sports Games, to be opened by President Nyusi, will involve students from all provinces of the country competing in various modalities including football, handball, volleyball, basketball, athletics, gymnastics and traditional games.

Reference: #Source: AIM Moçambique

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4. Mozambique to Ship Coal to Australia for the FIRST TIME

Brazilian mining major Vale had fixed a vessel to carry a 70,000 mt (plus/minus 10%) metallurgical coal cargo from Nacala in Mozambique to Port Kembla in Australia loading between July 13 and 15, market sources said Thursday.

According to S&P Global Platts cFlow trade flow software and traders, this would be the first direct shipment of Nacala met coal to Port Kembla.

The import of Mozambique coal is symbolic because Australia is the largest seaborne exporter of met coal in the world, the bulk of which is premium HCCs, prized for its high CSR.

Australia exported 172 million mt of met coal in 2016, according to a Goldman Sachs January 2017 report, or 66% of the seaborne volume, based on the same report. The global seaborne met coal market was estimated at 259 million mt in 2016.

“Steelmakers are looking to diversify their purchases too,” said a ship chartering source with a mining major, adding there have also been iron ore imports into Australia.

“This is an interesting flow,” said a ship-operator source based in Australia. “The vessel will be going from one loading location to another, one from where they can almost for certain find a cargo with very little ballast,” the ship-operator said, adding this could replace some smaller parcels that were shipped from Queensland ports.

It is uncertain if this first shipment of Mozambique met coal is connected to the declaration of force majeure by Australian premium coal met coal producer South32 on Monday.

South32 produces a premium mid-vol coal product called Illawarra in the state of New South Wales, where Port Kembla is located. Other met coal mines located near Port Kembla are Glencore Xstrata’s Tahmoor and Peabody’s Metropolitan mines.

Australian domestic steelmaker Bluescope Steel is a major met coal end-user located near Port Kembla, according to the Port Kembla Coal Terminal official website.

The main met coal products produced by Vale in Mozambique are premium mid-vol and premium low-vol HCCs.

Prices volatile amid outages

The global met coal market has been volatile in the past year due to multiple supply outages in Australia and China.

Spot prices of premium low-vol quadrupled within 2016 — from $76.45/mt on January 4 to $310/mt FOB Australia $310/mt FOB Australia on November 8 of that year — due to the supply outages, Platts data showed.

Prices subsequently doubled in three weeks earlier this year after a cyclone in the Australian state of Queensland, with premium low-vol prices hitting $304/mt FOB Australia on April 17.

Vale said in a recent report the Moatize mines had produced 1.6 million mt of met coal and 802,000 of thermal coal in the first quarter of 2017. Production of met coal was up 62.2% from Q4 2016 and 170.6% higher than a year earlier, and of thermal coal up 38.8% from the previous quarter and up 170% year on year, it added.

In November 2015, Vale sent its first shipment of met coal from Nacala to the west coast of India.

Referrence: #Source: Platts

 

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 5. UK Announces family planning summit for Mozambique

The UK announced this week in London its commitment to extend annual support to family planning services in Mozambique until 2022, measures which are estimated to save one woman’s life every 90 minutes.

The decision came out of the Family Planning Summit, co-hosted this week by the UK Department for International Development (DFID), the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.

DFID minister Priti Pate said the support aims to help eliminate barriers to effective family planning and facilitate access for millions of women and girls, particularly in developing countries.

This support will benefit countries such as Mozambique, which, Health Minister Nazira Abdula, said  in London, will by 2020 have reached more than 300,000 adolescent girls with voluntary contraception services through programmes implemented in secondary schools. Thirty percent of the country’s health units are scheduled to be using an electronic logistics and inventory management system for goods and products, including contraceptives, by 2020.

In contrast with the 2012 Summit, also hosted in London, most of the participating countries this year presented new commitments covering teenagers.

Speaking on a panel covering adolescents, Minister Abdula spoke of the need to openly address the sexual and reproductive health of adolescents.

In Mozambique, 52 percent of Mozambicans are under the age of 18, a large portion of the population to cover. Support from the United Kingdom and the World Bank will help reach more than 90,000 adolescents with information, services and contraceptives by 2020.

Globally, the package will by 2020 allow developing countries to:

• Save the lives of more than 6,000 women a year through the prevention of perinatal deaths (one woman in every 90 minutes);

• Prevent more than 3 million abortions;

• Support nearly 20 million women with contraceptives;

• Help reverse more than 6 million unwanted pregnancies;

• Help prevent the trauma of 75,000 stillbirths and nearly 44,000 newborn deaths.

The pursuit of these objectives will transform the lives of many millions of people and give women choice and control over their future.

The UK calls for collaboration between governments, civil society and the private sector to jointly do more for family planning, both by providing more services and facilitating access to them, particularly in developing countries.

Referrence: #Source: British High Commission in Mozambique / Press Release