FLAT CIRCLE
At 60km in length, with seven bridges and three junctions, the new Maputo ring road promises to transform the urban environment.
As Margaret Thatcher said, “You and I come by road or rail, but economists travel by infrastructure." For years, Africa has focused on building as many roads, rails, and airports as possible but, but there are still considerable gaps in the infrastructure of the continent. According to the IMF's publication “Mozambique Rising" (2014), only 20% of Mozambique's roads are paved. The rural areas are where unpaved roads are more common, and reasons given for this range from their distance from the centers of power in the country to the widely dispersed national population and a general lack of funding for the maintenance of such networks. Metropolitan areas are normally much luckier in this regard, but urban structuring is not a straightforward process, especially in a context of rapid urbanization. Often, African countries use western urban planning development models, but this approach may not always be appropriate for rapidly expanding cities such as Maputo.
Domingos Augusto Macucule states in his paper “Metropolization and Urban Restructuring, the Territory of Greater Maputo," that “the complexity (speed and unpredictability) of socio-spatial dynamics require from urban policies a more focused action than ever for the processes that coordinate these dynamics than the urban forms that result, through a project of urban restructuring that can anticipate more than monitor the effects." This anticipation that Domingos talks about is extremely important to control informal settlements and not only alleviate the detrimental effects of metropolization, but even to capitalize on their opportunities.
One of the most significant urban projects recently developed in Maputo to relieve congestion and alleviate the detrimental effects of metropolization is this ring road. This project was awarded by Empresa de Desenvolvimento de Maputo Sul, E.P. (Maputo Development Company) to the China Road and Bridge Corporation (CRBC), who started construction in 2012. The total cost of the project is $315.10 million, and 95% of this has been financed by Exim Bank of China and 5% by the government of Mozambique. The projects include six sections of road of a total length of 60km, with seven bridges and three junctions.
The first section corresponds to the 6.3km of Marginal Avenue, from the Radisson Hotel to Costa do Sol. This section has already been opened to traffic and only the landscape features are left to be completed. The second section goes from Costa do Sol to Marracuene for 19.7km, with part of this section already open to traffic. The final delivery date is set for October 2016. Around 99% of the third section has been completed as well. This section runs for 10.5km from Chiango to the Zimpeto National Stadium. The fourth section from Zimpeto to Marracuene runs for 15.5 kilometers and, even though it is nearly finished, it is supposed to be completed by October 2016. The fifth section from Zimpeto to Tchumeni connects the city with Matola, the largest suburb of Maputo with an estimated population of nearly 900,000 people, according to the National Statistics Institute. Around 75% of the works in this section have been completed. The sixth section corresponds to the 5.4km that go from Machava junction to the 16th of June square.
The bridges aspect of this project is already well advanced, with the bridge at Costa do Sol already open to traffic and Hipódromo 100% complete. The aqueduct over the Malauzi river has been already finished as well and the only ones that still have some work to be done are the Matola Gare railway bridge and the Macaneta bridge. Around 40% of the works in the first one have been completed while the bridge at Macaneta, one of the favorite weekend beach destinations of the Maputo population is at 60% completion.
The junctions of Zimpeto and Marracuene are 99% finished, and only some drainage works and expansion joints remain. On the other side, Tchumene junction has not been started yet because it is pending approval of the design engineering from the Trans African Concessions (TRAC). Finally, Maputo will have a network that will not only help decongest the city but will support the effective organization of the city and motivate the urbanization of the city's periphery.
FLAT CIRCLE
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Review: Economy
Much to Gain
Despite numerous years of considerable economic growth, Mozambique has been unable to retain its wealth and bring more than half of its population out of poverty. Developing one of the world's largest gas reserves and becoming a regional exporter of energy may be the solution.
read articleFocus: Aluminum
Foil Plans
Mozambique is the second-largest producer of aluminum in Africa and the 14th in the world. Since 2000, it has been producing aluminum for export, and in 2015 Midal Cables opened a factory near Mozal; the country's largest aluminum smelter. This could be the start of a Mozambican aluminum value chain.
read articleInterview
Ben James, Managing Director, Baobab Resources
TBY talks to Ben James, Baobab's Managing Director, resident in Mozambique. A geologist by training, Ben has been directly involved with the development of the Company's Tete Project from a greenfields iron ore discovery to an asset on the verge of corner-stoning Mozambique's nascent steel industry.
read articleFocus: Aluminum
Aluminum Legacy
Mozambique is the second-largest producer of aluminum in Africa and the 14th in the world. Since 2000, it has been producing aluminum for export, and in 2015 Midal Cables opened a factory near Mozal; the country's largest aluminum smelter. This could be the start of a Mozambican aluminum value chain.
read articleInterview
Hon. Jorge Olívio Penicela Nhambiu, Minister, Science and Technology, Higher and Technical Vocational Education (MCTESTP)
TBY talks to Hon. Jorge Olívio Penicela Nhambiu, Minister of Science and Technology, Higher and Technical Vocational Education (MCTESTP), on bringing science and technology to rural areas and increasing research in the country.
read articleFocus: E-government + E-bau
Digital Decisions
Between 2015 and 2016, Mozambique fell five positions in the World Bank's Ease of Doing Business Index. The government is investing in the GovNET and e-BAU platforms to facilitate procedures and cut the costs of acquiring business licenses and improving services provided to the public.
read articleReview: Health
Time for a check-up
Mozambique's healthcare budget rose to $561.5 million in 2015, an increase of 1.1% on expenditure in 2014, accounting for 10.2% of the state budget. Total healthcare expenditure in 2014 was $477.5 million. The Ministry for Health oversees the sector and is responsible for setting the budget each year.
read articleInterview
Dr. João M. Carvalho Fumane, Director General , Hospital Central de Maputo (HCM)
TBY talks to Dr. João M. Carvalho Fumane, Director General of Hospital Central de Maputo (HCM), about the range of services on offer and what is being done to further excellence in the health sector
read articleInterview
Hon. Jorge Ferrão, Minister, Education and Human Development
<span style="line-height: 1.6em; background-color: initial;">TBY talks to Hon. Jorge Ferrão, Minister of Education and Human Development, on the goals of the ministry, the role of local languages, and tackling teacher absenteeism.</span>
read articleInterview
Prof. Doctor João Leopoldo da Costa, Rector, Instituto Superior de Ciências e Tecnologia de Moçambique (ISCTEM)
TBY talks to Prof. Doctor João Leopoldo da Costa, Rector of Instituto Superior de Ciências e Tecnologia de Moçambique (ISCTEM), on the perils of the internet on education and the quality of its high school.
read articleReview: Tourism
Mozambeach
With white-sand beaches, scuba diving, and game reserves among its wide range of accommodation, Mozambique is a goldmine for tourism. However, to attract the number of tourists the country is aiming for, and entitled to, it will have to compete with its considerably more popular neighbors.
read articleReview: Legal
Smart Choices
Foreign investments are sources of capital, foreign exchange, and technical know-how for developing countries such as Mozambique. Over the past three decades, Mozambique has been successfully striving to ensure a favorable legal framework for foreign private investment.
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