Maputo, Mozambique, 4 May – The European Investment Bank (EIB) has agreed a loan with the government of Mozambique of 65 million euros for the conclusion of reconstruction work on the Sena railway line and the dredging of the access channel to the port of Beira.

Under the terms of an agreement signed Thursday by the vice president of the EIB, Plutarchos Sakellaris, and by Mozambique’s Fianance Minister, Manuel Chang, the Sena railway line (linking Beira, by the sea, and the interior of Tete province across 655 kilometres) will receive 43 million euros and the port of Beira 22 million euros.

With the funding now secured from the EIB; it will be possible to conclude the reconstruction of the railway this year and re-activate the link between the port of Beira and the coal mines at Moatize, the biggest mines in Mozambique, Chang said at the signing ceremony.

Chang also noted that, in relation to the impact that dredging would having on the port of Beira, “it will be possible to decongest goods traffic” there.

“Relations between Mozambique and the EIB have been excellent in the past and will continue at the same level,” Sakellaris noted, adding that Mozambique has received around 400 million euros from the EIB over the last few years.

“Funding from the EIB to Mozambique has an impressive record, which makes Mozambique one of the biggest receivers of aid from the EIB,” said Sakellaris. (macauhub)