Sector Urban & Regional Development

Project Type Regional Development Planning

Project Title The Project for Nacala Corridor Economic Development Strategies in the Republic of Mozambique (PEDEC-Nacala)

Location Nacala Corridor Region (Cabo Delgado, Nampula, Niassa, Tete, Zambezia), Mozambique

Client Ministry of Planning and Development / JICA

Project Period April 2012 – July 2015

Problems addressed by the Project

Historically, the Nacala Corridor was an international transport corridor consisting of Nacala Port, the Northern Railway in Mozambique and the Malawian Railway System, and used to be the most important export route for the neighbouring landlocked country Malawi. However, the rail transport was disrupted by Mozambique’s prolonged civil war (1977-1992) and although the deteriorated rail facilities and rolling stock of the Northern Railway were rehabilitated in the 1990s, the railway rehabilitation could not strongly drive economic development in the Nacala Corridor Region leaving this region behind from the economic development from the rest of the country.

However, this situation started to change due to the following three driving forces:

Coal mining in Tete and coal transport by railway to Nacala Port for export Natural gas exploitation and LNG production for export Increasing investments and development in Nacala Special Economic Zone (SEZ) near Nacala Port

The most important driving force among these three is the coal extraction in Tete Province and transport of coal from Tete to Nacala Port. To achieve this coal transport and export, it is necessary to upgrade the railway between Moatize and Nacala Port. Taking advantage of the upgraded railway, the catchment of Nacala Port is expected to expand largely not only covering inland areas of northern Mozambique but also Malawi and eastern Zambia. Furthermore, the cities of Nacala and Nampula, as well as inland city like Cuamba, could significantly increase their development potential because of this upgraded railway in addition to on-going trunk road upgrading projects.

Service Period

OC Global conducted the study from April 2012 until June 2015. During the service period two international seminars took place inviting participants from Malawi and Zambia. Several trainings such as GIS training, study tours in Vietnam and Japan were also conducted for the counterpart organisations.

Actual Project Works

OC Global formulated Integrated Development Strategies for the Nacala Corridor Region covering over 20 sectors from economic and infrastructure sectors to social sectors. Urban development and environmental management were also an important part of the strategies.

The plan was formulated putting focus on social and environment aspects to prevent deterioration which may be caused by development. The following were part of the project work:

Conducting of logistics survey Analysis on present conditions in the Nacala Corridor Region of Mozambique and neighbouring countries

and identification of issues to be tackled Formulation of a future socioeconomic framework for the Nacala Corridor Region and spatial structures for

the Nacala Corridor Region in the middle term and long term

Nacala Port

Nampula Station

Spatial Structure for the Nacala Corridor Region 2035

Examination of alternative development scenarios and formulation of integrated development strategies consisting of overall development strategies and sector strategies

Formulation of an implementation plan including ideas on priority programs and projects

Draft development scenarios and development strategies were discussed in the stakeholder meetings held in the five provinces. Besides the formulation of the plan, topographic maps (at a scale of 1:10,000) of Nacala and Nampula areas, GIS database were created.