The African Development Bank (ADB) has just approved a donation of 665 thousand dollars for Environmental and Social Impact Assessment Studies (ESIA), in the context of the Machipanda railway rehabilitation project, which connects the Port of Beira, in Sofala province, and neighboring Zimbabwe.

The strategic objective of the ESIA is to ensure that the project considers resilience and sustainability issues, while providing comfort to the project's subsequent debt financiers as to its bankability.

The amount will be made available through the NEPAD Infrastructure Project Preparation Facility Special Fund (NEPAD-IPPF), established and provided by the African Development Bank and supported by generous contributions from the governments of Canada, Denmark, Germany, Norway, Spain, and the United Kingdom.

"A Government coordination mechanism led by the Ministry of Transport will oversee the operation and the implementing agency will be CFM (Caminhos de Ferro de Moçambique)," the ADB says.

He adds that the specific objective of this work will be to review, identify and evaluate the existing environmental and social documentation and likely impacts of the rehabilitation project to be done on the Machipanda railway line (part of the Beira Corridor), and recommend appropriate mitigation measures.

The Beira Corridor links Mozambique to Zimbabwe, Zambia, and the Democratic Republic of Congo, providing road transport along the Beira-Mutare-Harare-Chirundu-Lusaka route and rail transport comprising two lines, namely the Machipanda (317 kilometers) and Sena (600 kilometers), which connects the Port of Beira to the Moatize coal mines via Inhamitanga, Caia, and the town of Sena.

The rehabilitation works are expected to restore the rail line in this strategic transportation and trade corridor and improve the railroad's tonnage capacity from 60-ton to 80-ton wagons. Support from the NEPAD-IPPF Special Fund will therefore play a catalytic role in unlocking the public and private investment needed for the rehabilitation works.

The Machipanda railway rehabilitation project is aligned with the two pillars of the African Development Bank's Strategy Paper 2018-2022 for Mozambique, namely the development of transformative infrastructure that supports inclusive growth and job creation; and support for agricultural transformation and value chain development.