Provinces & Countries – Moçambique
Brigitte Weidlich
Vodacom claims 40% market share
Vodacom-Moçambique (VM), the second cellphone operator in the country, increased its share of the mobile phone market to 40%. VM Chairman, Hermenegildo Gamito, said it had now about 1,5 million clients, over 40% of the estimated 3,3 million cellphone users in the country.
VM is the Moçambican subsidiary of the South African Vodacom Group, holding 90% in the company. The Emotel group of Moçambican investors holds 5%, and a second – Moçambique’s Intelec Holdings – the remaining 5%. M-Cel is the other mobile operator in Moçambique.
"In four years of VM in Moçambique, our market share shows the effectiveness and success of our work and commitment in providing better quality services at an accessible cost for our
clients," Gamito added.
VM is yet to make a profit in Moçambique. Losses by September 2007 were R56m.
Dubai invests US$200m in hotel complex
Dubai World Africa (DWA) will invest US$200m in a hotel complex at Bilene tourist resort in Moçambique’s southern Gaza Province, including an international standard golf course, a 5-star hotel and 500 villas.
A nature reserve will be created for the nearby Sao Martinho Lagoon, a breeding area for leatherback turtles. The area has an important coral reef.
The company will establish a subsidiary, Dubai World Conservation Africa, to handle the nature project along with other conservation areas in Africa. DWA is part of the holding company Dubai World, through which the Dubai Government runs its international businesses. According to Dubai World Group Chairman, Sultan Ahmed Bin Sulayem, the company will invest about US$1,5bn in Africa over the next five years.
The Group is already active in the Moçambique transport sector. Dubai Ports World owns 60% of Maputo International Ports Services (MIPS), which runs the Maputo container terminal. More recently, the Dubai company took a stake in the Maputo Port Development Company (MPDC), which manages the entire port.
Japan funds Nacala economic zone
The Japanese Government, through the Japanese Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC), will grant funding to develop the Nacala Special Economic Zone in the northern Moçambican Nampula Province.
JBIC discussed the project in Maputo with representatives of the Moçambican Investment Promotion Centre and the Office for the Accelerated Development of Economic Zones (GAZEDA). GAZEDA coordinator, Danilo Nala, said the special economic zones were duty-free zones and included economic growth in different sectors.
The Nacala zone covers the port of Nacala and the adjoining district of Nacala-a-Velha and was created by Government decree in 2007.
Fuel pipeline to RSA
Construction on a fuel pipeline from Maputo to RSA should begin in June 2008, after an environmental impact study gave the green light.
The US$537m pipeline will transport refined fuels from the Matola oil terminal to Kendal in RSA at a rate of 5m3 a year and will reduce the number of fuel trucks on roads. It will run for 64km from Matola to the border at Ressano Garcia, and then 384km to Kendal, via Nelspruit, where a storage depot will be built.
The operating company is Petroline Holdings of South Africa. Due to the different regulatory environment in the two countries, two other companies were created – Petroline RSA (Pty) in RSA and Petroline SARL in Moçambique. The main Mozambican shareholder is the publicly-owned fuel company, Petromoc.
This will be the second pipeline from Moçambique to South Africa. The first carries natural gas from Temane, in Inhambane province to Secunda in RSA.
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