Private investors interested in re-launching the tea production company in the Lugela district of Mozambique’s Zambézia province, have signed a contract with the provincial government, according to a report in Mozambican newspaper Notícias.

Citing a source from the provincial government, the newspaper added that a survey was underway to establish the number of families that live in the 4,300 hectare area that belongs to the tea factory.

Although it is considered to be strategic for the Mozambican economy, the tea sector is facing a period of weak public and private investment, aging of plants and low productivity.

Recent studies show that in Zambézia’s case, the province where the most tea is produced, of over 30,000 hectares earmarked to grow tea, just 10,000 were being explored.

A source from the provincial government said he still believed that the Lugela unit could create more jobs, and that it would also contribute to improving the quality of life of the surrounding population as well as increasing the tax revenues needed to develop the region.

After Gurué, Lugela is the region with the biggest potential for growing tea in Mozambique. (macauhub)