Maputo, June 24, 2025 (Lusa) - Mozambique’s government approved a decree on Tuesday authorising the ministers of transport and logistics, and agriculture, environment and fisheries to sign the concession contract to move forward with the construction of the Chongoene Terminal in the south.
The cabinet approved the decree today, according to the final communiqué of the meeting, which added that it aims to ensure the continuation of the contract with the concessionaire, Sociedade Terminal de Minérios de Chongoene, in Gaza province, authorised to provide port services, including designing, financing, building and operating the infrastructure.
Mozambique’s government has awarded a 15-year public-private partnership contract for the construction, operation, maintenance and management of the Chongoene Port Terminal to a company formed by Chinese firm Desheng Port and Mozambican state-owned company CFM, according to a cabinet decree dated 26 August last year.
According to government information, the decision to build the Chongoene Terminal aims to enable various development projects in Gaza province, with the heavy sands from Chibuto being the project that makes the infrastructure viable, with the expectation of serving other local initiatives.
The authorities awarded the concession to Sociedade Terminal de Minérios de Chongoene SA, formed by Desheng Port and Portos (80%) and the state-owned Caminhos de Ferro de Moçambique (CFM). The concessionaire is authorised to “design, finance, build, own, operate, manage, rehabilitate, maintain, commercially exploit and develop the port infrastructure of the Chongoene Port Terminal and all related and auxiliary infrastructure”.
“The exclusive exploitation, within the perimeter of the concession, of the port infrastructure at the Mineral Port Terminal, has as its main activity the storage and handling of domestic heavy sands in bulk,” added the government decree of that date, pointing out that the terminal “must have a minimum capacity of 8 million metric tonnes per year for the export of domestic heavy sands in bulk, which may be increased depending on demand.”
The first phase of investment in the construction of the Chongoene Port Terminal is budgeted at 55 million (€49.6 million), and the promoters expect to boost it with exports of heavy sands from Chibuto, a venture led by Desheng, whose production is estimated at 2 million tonnes per year.
On 15 October last year, the government announced that it had awarded the concession to a Chinese group in a public-private partnership for the construction, operation, maintenance and management of the Chongoene Port Terminal, and the agreement includes the construction of a 73-kilometre railway line, according to the government.
PME/ADB // ADB.
Lusa
