Maputo, Mozambique, 29 May – Mozambique’s tourism minister, Fernando Sumbana, said Wednesday in Maputo that in 2007 the tourism sector in the country had attracted investment of around US$900 million.

In 2006 the sector saw investments of some US$600 million.

The tourism sector, according to the minister, is developing in a satisfactory way after seeing a recession during the civil war due to destruction of the country’s infrastructure.

O sector is now witnessing high levels of investment based on Mozambnique taking advantage of the Soccer World Cup taking place in South Africa.

Mozambique is expecetd to be visited by around 100,000 tourists during the World Cup and see revenues of some US$500 million.

The tourism sector posted revenues of US$280 million in 2007, as compared to US$163 million in 2006.

Currently some refurbishment and construction of airports is underway in some areas of Mozambique.

Mozambique and the World Bank’s lending arm, the International Finance Corporation, recently signed a U$3.1 billion deal for tourism projects along the southern African state’s 2,500 km (1,553 miles) coastline.

Maputo, Mozambique – The Arab Bank for the Economic Development of Africa (BADEA) is to contribute US$8 million to a project providing sanitation to the centre of the city of Beira in Mozambique’s Sofala province, under the terms of an agreement signed Monday in Maputo.

The funding was made official with the signing of an agreement by finance minister, Manuel Chang and by the Director-General of BADEA, Abelaziz Khélef.

The sanitation project for Beira city-centre aims to provide better conditions for public health by reducing rates of malaria, cholera and other diseases spread by stagnant water.

Mozambique’s relationship with BADEA goes back to 1975, when the first credit agreement was signed to support the Balance of Payments, to the value of US$10 million.

Since then the bank has financed around 32 projects in the areas of roads, agriculture and rural development, transport and communications, energy, health, fisheries, education and higher education, with a total of around US$176 million.

The starting point for development in Mozambique must be the rural areas, declared President Armando Guebuza on Wednesday.

Speaking at the opening session in Maputo of the Annual Meeting of the African Development Bank (ADB), Guebuza said “we shall overcome the challenges of economic emancipation by making the rural areas the nuclei of planning and development”.

He warned that the problems of rural poverty will not be solved “by the simple liberalization of prices. On the contrary, reality shows us that measures to liberalise and make flexible the economy can in the countryside generate the opposite effects, in the absence of structural measures that seek to deal with the causes of the isolation of rural areas from the rest of the national economy”.

Throughout Africa, Guebuza continued, there was a lack of transport and communications infrastructure to bring regions together and “to link centres of production with centres of consumption”. But the free functioning of markets “presupposes the existence of infrastructures that facilitate these linkages”.

To bring these infrastructures into the countryside, and to provide rural dwellers with efficient institutions providing public services “are the major challenges we face in the struggle to develop Mozambique”, he said.

“We advocate endogenous development, with strong participation by the beneficiaries, including the private sector”, the President stressed, “and which is expressed in increased agricultural production and productivity, increased household income, the creation of rural markets, and the encouragement of agro-industry”.

Turning to the sharp rises in oil and grain prices, Guebuza warned that these “have an impact on the productive sector, on the balance of payments and on the state budget. This is not just a problem of food security. We are facing a large scale social and economic problem”.

He called on the international community to commit itself more decisively “in the collective search for solutions to this challenge, which in countries such as ours can interfere in our programme to fight against poverty and to achieve the Millennium Development Goals”.

Guebuza hoped that the ADB meeting could reach consensus on the paths to follow. “We must act more speedily than the speed at which oil prices are rising”, he insisted. “Let us turn this challenge into an opportunity to strengthen our partnerships and accelerate the development of our countries”.

The Minister of Planning and Development, Aiuba Cuereneia, who is the current chairperson of the ADB’s Board of Governors, also stressed the energy and food crises. He noted that the price of a tonne of rice has risen from 373 US dollars at the start of the year to 760 dollars now. Wheat had reached the price of 412 dollars a tonne, and even maize, the staple food for much of Africa, had risen by 29 per cent, from 171 to 220 dollars a tonne.

This hit African economies severely, he said, and in particular would “increase poverty levels in African cities”. Nonetheless, Cuereneia urged African leaders to turn the threats into an opportunity “to make better use of Africa’s potential, such as its land and natural resources so that we can face the crisis by increasing production and productivity”.

MAPUTO – Vodacom Mozambique, a unit of South Africa’s Vodacom , will invest $50 million to expand infrastructure in rural areas and win market share, in Mozambique.

“We are investing $50 million in our expansion plans to build new base stations, particularly in the inner remote reaches,” Vodacom Mozambique Chairman Hermenigildo Gamito said.

Vodacom Mozambique, one of two mobile phone operators in the country, has some 40 percent of the market with around 1.5 million subscribers.

Gamito said Mozambique’s Whatana Investments, chaired by Graca Machel, the wife of South Africa’s former President Nelson Mandela, had taken a 5 percent stake worth $10 million.

He added that Vodacom Mozambique planned further stake sales but will retain a majority holding.

Local shareholding in the company stands at 15 percent.

Source – Reuters 

Maputo, Mozambique – Forty three percent of Mozambique’s 227 petrol stations are located in Maputo, the deputy energy minister, Jaime Himade said Thursday in Maputo.

Himade said however that this situation would change as the government planned to expand the network of petrol stations across the country and that there were investors interested in opening them in some rural districts.

Himade was speaking during a seminar held in Maputo on the safety regulations for for petrol stations, with the Energy Ministry planning to update those regulations, which date back to 1958 and 1962.

The president of the National Energy Fund (Funae), Miquelina Menezes, recently told Mozambican news agency AIM that the government would invest around US$3 million in setting up solar-powered petrol stations in some rural districts.

She added that initially 20 of those petrol stations would be built in the provinces of Sofala, Manica, Cabo Delgado and Niassa.

Travelers should be aware of the risks of crime, poor road safety standards and limited health facilities in Mozambique. With that said, Mozambique is a moderately low-risk country as far as crime is concerned and the vast majority of visits to Mozambique are trouble-free. Keep a close watch on your possessions in busy places and keep all your valuables in a hidden money belt.

Avoid driving at night whenever possible and set off as early as possible so that you have as much time as possible to deal with delays. When dealing with officials, be friendly and patient and treat them with respect. They are likely to reciprocate.

If you are visiting the Bazaruto Archipelago, the only real dangers are razor clams which are exposed at low tides. It is recommended you wear sandals to avoid cutting your feet on these.

Pomene Lodge now offers brand new, fully catered Water Chalets with magnificent views over the immaculate estuary. These chalets are built of timber, thatch and reed in true Mozambique style and offer either double or twin accommodation options.

Pomene offers many activities with scuba diving, quad biking, boating and fishing being the most popular. There is restricted transport and guests are encouraged to walk and enjoy the wilderness experience of this untouched peninsula.

The food in Mozambique is largely Portuguese with Far Eastern influences. Specialties are peri-peri chicken, Zambesi chicken, shellfish, including Delagoa Bay prawns (which are grilled and served with peri-peri sauce), matapa (sauce of ground peanuts and cassava leaves) with rice or wusa (stiff maize porridge). Restaurants can be found in main towns, as well as hotel dining rooms.

Tipping in Mozambique: Tipping is not normally expected outside of Maputo. In Maputo and other tourist areas, 5 per cent of the bill is normal (depending on standards of service and the place itself).