Mozambique: The Minister of Economy Basílio Muhate has laid the foundation stone for the construction of a new US$280m cement plant in Chibabava, Sofala Province. Muhate described the 1Mt/yr project as ‘a structural investment under the National Program to Industrialise Mozambique.’ The Chinese-funded plant will also have a 28MW captive power plant, to ‘position itself among the most important industrial ventures in the construction materials sector in the country,’ according to Muhate.
A government note added that the government hopes that the plant will significantly reduce cement imports, improve the country’s trade balance, increase domestic supply and reduce construction costs, with ‘positive impacts’ on housing, infrastructure and economic development. Without giving figures, the Ministry of Economy says that the venture will create direct and indirect jobs, with a special focus on local youth, associated with technical training, knowledge transfer, and the ‘enhancement of Mozambican human capital.’
The government added that the plant has the potential to export to the markets of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), while strengthening economic cooperation between Mozambique and China.
Cheng Biao, Chairman of the Board of Directors of Sino Harbor Construction Group, one of the investors, says that after completion, scheduled for 2027, the project will ‘give new impetus to infrastructure construction and industrial development in Mozambique,’ promoting local economic prosperity and ‘improving the standard of living of its population in many ways.’
