The country has begun installing 26 metal bridges destroyed by natural disasters in recent years. The temporary infrastructure should reestablish connections between the provinces of Manica, Nampula, Sofala and Cabo Delgado.

The construction work is financed by the African Development Bank (ADB), and four of them will be installed by the end of the year over the Messalo and Montepuez rivers on roads in Cabo Delgado.

According to the Director General of the National Roads Administration (ANE), Américo Dimande, the bridges will be placed on national road 380 (the asphalt road that connects the north to the south of Cabo Delgado) and on rural roads 698 and 762, connecting Mueda and Quissanga, respectively.

With a service life of up to 100 years, the bridges are expected to provide a temporary solution in areas vulnerable to extreme weather conditions, while the government invests in permanent, climate change resilient bridges.

"We are very pleased to be able to make this important contribution to Mozambique and respond to the recent climate disasters, while investing to rebuild better," Pietro Toigo, the ADB country director, said as recently as the first half of the year.

The bridges are funded under the Post Cyclone Idai and Kenneth Emergency Resilience and Recovery Program, which was approved following the damage caused by these two cyclones that hit Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi in 2019 and affected about three million people in the three countries.

This four-year program will end in December 2023 at a total cost of $100 million. The funding was provided by the African Development Fund, part of the African Development Bank Group.