Maputo, Oct. 17, 2025 (Lusa) - Mozambique and Eswatini plan to invest the equivalent of €40 million to build a joint water storage dam to benefit the communities of the two countries' border towns.

The infrastructure, called the Pingue dam, will be built on the Mozambican side, benefiting the communities of the village of Namaacha in Maputo province, in the south. In contrast, on the Eswatini side, it will benefit the communities of Lomahasha.

"More than a document, the declaration of intent [for the construction of the dam] is a testimony to the friendship between our countries, mutual trust and a shared vision of progress and posterity within the framework of SADC [Southern African Development Community] and the principles of integrated water resource management," said Mozambique's minister of public works and housing, Fernando Rafael, after the formalisation of this understanding.

The future Pingue dam is expected to store 13 million cubic metres of water.

The agreement for the construction of the infrastructure was signed in Eswatini by the two governments, in an act described as a milestone in the "healthy" diplomatic relations between the two countries, which date back to 1976.

In August, Mozambican President Daniel Chapo emphasised the importance of deepening relations with Eswatini, especially in industry, transport, logistics, ports, and mineral and water resources.

The two countries then signed three legal instruments of cooperation, opening another opportunity to share political, economic, and social information.

Among the instruments signed by the two states is a memorandum of cooperation in the field of fuels and related products between Petróleos de Moçambique (Petromoc) and Empresa Nacional de Petróleos de Essuatíni, as well as an agreement to exchange experiences in air services.

SYCO/ADB // ADB.

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