Maputo, April 15, 2026 (Lusa) – Mozambique’s government plans to acquire 360 new buses to strengthen public transport in major urban centres and expand school transport services, according to a Transport and Communications Development Fund (FTC) international tender, seen on Wednesday by Lusa.
The tender notice, which schedules the opening of bids for the four lots for 4 May, specifies that the procurement was part of a government initiative to enhance the public passenger transport system and promote inclusive and modern public transport, ensuring the growing financial sustainability of the road transport sector and improving transport and logistics conditions.
The first lot provides for the supply of 50 buses powered by Compressed Natural Gas (CNG), to strengthen public transport in the Maputo Metropolitan Area; the second lot provides for 70 diesel buses, to expand school transport in the northern and central areas; and the third involves a further 75 CNG buses for municipalities in the south.
The fourth lot involves the purchase of 165 diesel buses for municipalities in the central and northern regions.
Mozambique’s president, Daniel Chapo, said on 13 April that the fuel crisis caused by the war in the Middle East could reach Mozambique at any time, calling for a focus on public transport to mitigate its consequences, noting that vehicles were available across the country for public transport.
“By deploying vehicles to the 15 municipalities in the central and northern regions, and in May to the southern region, we are precisely anticipating the fuel crisis that could strike at any moment due to the war (...) between Iran, the US and Israel.”
“And with public transport, we can minimise the impact of this crisis,” he said.
National authorities confirmed last week that they were preparing measures to cushion the impact of rising global fuel prices, given the volatility of international prices amid the war in the Middle East.
“With regard to the issue of [fuel] prices on the international market, there is a great deal of unpredictability”, said Felisbela Cunhete, director of the National Directorate of Hydrocarbons and Fuels (DNHC).
“It is very difficult at this stage to make any predictions, given the current geopolitical context”, she added.
Speaking to journalists, she said that between January and February, the country saw some stability in fuel prices, a situation that changed in April, when import prices and the product's price rose.
"From April onwards, there was a rise in import prices."
"I am referring to FOB [Free on Board] prices and the price of the product itself, resulting directly from the conflict in the Middle East, given that most of the product supplying our market comes from that region," she said.
The disruption to shipping through the Strait of Hormuz, a route used to transport around 20% of the oil and a significant proportion of the liquefied natural gas traded by sea, prompted a swift price rise, she said.
She added that if the current situation persisted and countries were forced to import products at higher costs, these increases would inevitably be reflected in the domestic market, and that the government was preparing strategies to mitigate the impact of these rising prices.
She acknowledged that the country would eventually have to absorb those costs but said that the government was ready to implement a series of measures to cushion the impact on retail prices, as fuel costs have a significant multiplier effect across the entire economy.
PVJ/MYAL // ADB.
Lusa
