The conclusion of the rehabilitation, modernization and expansion works at the Port of Nacala, in the province of Nampula, will be delayed by 21 months (already nine months), since the projections indicated July 2021 and now, according to "Notícias", it is expected to occur in April 2023.

The project is being funded by the Japan Development Agency (JICA), which has disbursed 277.5 million US dollars.

The Director of the Port's rehabilitation project unit, Edgar Jorge, explained that the execution of the works is 64% and includes the civil part, equipment, and consulting.

"The project started in 2018 and was supposed to last three years, but with Covid-19 and other setbacks we are still running. This port will become a reference at the regional level," he noted.

Jorge translated the expected impact after rehabilitation into numbers.

"The capacity of handling volume will increase from 100 thousand 20-foot containers per year to 250 thousand, with storage going up from five thousand to eight thousand, and in relation to the berthing of large ships, we will go from 60 thousand to 80 thousand tons. Besides this, with the maximum capacity of the quay equipment we will be able to handle 50 containers/hour", he pointed out.

In the overall performance, according to Port of Nacala Director Neimo Induna, the volume of cargo handled for interland stands out for Malawi with about 16% of products such as fertilizers, clinker and other containerized units.

"The port has three terminals, being general cargo, bulk, liquid and container terminals. In the history of cargo handling volume, of interest is the increasing trend reaching 2.8 million tons in 2021. For Malawi it was about 16% of the overall cargo volume such as fertilizer, clinker and other containerized units," Induna explained.

The natural port of Nacala is located in Bengo Bay, in the deepest waters of the east coast of Africa with rail connections to the interior and exterior of Mozambique.

Among other advantages, the Port of Nacala has exceptional conditions of navigability, which allows ships to come and go 24 hours a day, has no draught limitations, and does not require dredging.