The government will invest about 40 million meticais for the construction of a toll road on National Road number seven (EN7), in Báruè district, Manica province.

The road infrastructure will be erected on the Catandica-Guro section, in the Kamuazanchenga area. The work is being financed by the Road Fund, through the Self-Sustained Road Maintenance Program (PROASME) and will last four months.

It is being executed by the company MTC-Construções and comprises, besides the toll booth, an administrative building, a dormitory, a police station, a collection office, a fence and a security system, and energy, among other compartments.

According to AIM, the first stone for the start of the construction work was laid today (02) by the Secretary of State in Manica province, Edson Macuácua. On the occasion, Macuácua said that the infrastructure is of great importance for the road sector and for the province in general, as it will greatly contribute to the improvement of access roads.

"This road is of great importance for the country and the region because it allows the connection between Mozambique and the countries in the interior. With the construction of the toll, the government intends to ensure that the road has better conditions and continues to contribute to the economy of the country and the southern region of Africa," he said.

According to Macuácua, "we want it to be well maintained. From the time that the road is rehabilitated, the users will pay some amount for the maintenance.

"We ask the local communities, the community authorities, to, in coordination with the state, assume that the infrastructure belongs to the community, is ours, and is essentially aimed at promoting local development, the country and the southern African region," he added.

The EN7 is an important corridor for the country. It connects the province of Manica with the province of Tete, up to the borders with Malawi and Zambia. It is used to transport goods from the port of Beira, in the province of Sofala, to the interior countries, and vice versa.

With the construction of the development, the EN7 will have two toll roads. The first is already in operation in the region of Púnguè-Sul, in the district of Vandúzi.