Africans In China

The Export-Import Bank of China has agreed to finance construction of the 1,500-MW Mphanda Nkuwa hydroelectrict project on Mozambique’s Zambezi River.

Mozambique’s O Pais newspaper quoted Energy Minister Salvador Namburete saying construction of the US$2 billion dam is to begin in 2010 in the northern Tete Province. The China Exim bank’s US$2.3 billion loan package also includes funding a transmission line from the dam site to Maputo, the capital.

A detailed proposal for construction of Mphanda Nkuwa boosted the capacity of the proposed project to 1,500 MW from 1,300 MW in 2007. Additionally, the project is seen potentially expanding to 2,400 MW. (HydroWorld 3/19/09)

“We expect to finalize concession contract negotiations with the electricity company (Electricidade de Mocambique) and other clients by June this year, then conclude financial deals,” Namburete said. “We expect the process to be finalized by December this year and construction should begin between April and May next year.”

International law firm Linklaters was appointed project counsel to Mphanda Nkuwa in 2008. (HydroWorld 10/30/08) The project is being developed by Brazil construction firm Camargo Correa, national utility Electricidade de Mocambique (EDM), and Energia Capital to supply power to Mozambique, South African utility Eskom, and the Southern Africa region.

Mphanda Nkuwa is to be built 60 kilometers downstream from the existing 2,040-MW Cahora Bassa hydroelectric project on the Zambezi River (HydroWorld 5/7/09), as well as the proposed 800- to 1,200-MW Cahora Bassa North hydro project. (HydroWorld 12/2/08)

EDM recruited consultants in March to serve as procurement specialist for a transmission backbone system to deliver power from proposed new hydro and thermal power plants in the area to southern Mozambique. Some of Mphanda Nkuwa’s electricity would be used in Mozambique, with the surplus exported to other countries of the Southern African Development Community.

(hydroworld.com)

MAPUTO, Mozambique (AFP)–Mozambique will receive $3 million in military aid from China under an agreement signed recently in Beijing, Mozambique’s Defense Ministry said Wednesday.

A Defense Ministry spokesman said the money would be used to purchase logistical equipment.

“The Chinese Defense Ministry guaranteed that, despite the world financial crisis, it will continue to support the armed forces of Mozambique with logistical assistance and training,” ministry spokesman Cristovao Artur Chume said in a statement.

China has taken a keen interest in Mozambique in recent years.

The country became Mozambique’s second-largest investor last year, bringing in $76.8 million - second only to neighboring South Africa.

Chinese financing has funded such projects as a hydroelectric dam, a convention center and a national football stadium.

China’s role in Africa has expanded rapidly as its economy has boomed.

It is the continent’s second-biggest trading partner after the U.S., a relationship fueled in part by petroleum imports from oil-rich African countries such as Angola and Sudan.

– Mozambican Prime Minister Luisa Dias Diogo on Monday met with Deputy Chief of the Chinese People’s Liberation Army (PLA) General Staff Liu Zhenwu, with the two sides stressing the importance of further enhancing military cooperation in future.

Diogo said the Mozambique-China friendship can be traced back to the era of Mozambique’s struggle to gain national liberation, while exchanges between the two peoples last even longer.

Since the establishment of diplomatic ties between the two countries, Diogo said, bilateral relations have been developing in a comprehensive and steady manner, with the two nations conducting exchange and cooperation effectively in various fields.

Mozambique highly values its military relations with China, and wishes to further enhance cooperation between the armed forces of the two countries, she said.

Liu said the Chinese side would actively implement the spirits of the Sino-Africa cooperation forum held in Beijing, and keep promoting Sino-Mozambican military cooperation.

The Chinese military delegation led by Liu arrived here on Sunday on a two-day visit to Mozambique.

Macau,  – China’s Deputy Trade Minister, Jiang Zengwei, left on Monday for a trip to Mozambique, Angola and Portugal to strengthen economic and trade relations between China and the three Portuguese-speaking countries.

In statements made to Portuguese news agency, Lusa, Rita Santos, Coordinator of the Supporting Office to the Permanent Secretariat of the Forum for Economic and Trade Cooperation between China and Portuguese-speaking countries, said that a “successful visit” was expected and stressed that “for the first time, a visit by an official of the Chinese Trade Ministry is supported by the logistical platform of Macau.”

“Yet it also has the support of businesspeople from Macau who have, over recent years, maintained frequent contact with these countries, promoting business and investment,” said Santos.

Macau has been the link between China and the Portuguese-speaking world since 2003, hosting not only the permanent secretariat of the Forum, but also the ministerial meeting which takes place every three years.

The political and business delegation which left for Mozambique, Angola and Portugal includes a dozen Chinese businesspeople, as well as nine from Macau.

The delegation will remain in Mozambique until 26 March from where a part of the delegation will head for Lisbon and the other, led by Jiang Zengwei, will visit Angola and remain in Luanda until 28 March.

The latest available data – collected between January and October – indicate that trade between China and the Portuguese-speaking world totalled US$68.07 billion, an increase of 89.5 percent which is very favourable to the Portuguese-speaking world given that the eight countries imported products worth US$21.12 billion and sold products worth US$46.94 billion. (macauhub)

Maputo - China has injected a total of $60m to construct a stadium in Mozambique as a way of tapping into the 2010 World Cup tournament to be held in neighbouring South Africa.

The stadium, financed by a Chinese loan, is the biggest sports construction since Mozambique’s independence from Portugal in 1975 and 16 years of ruinous civil war.

Authorities now hope to attract fellow Portuguese-speaking 2010 teams, including five-time champions Brazil, to use the stadium to train for the soccer festival.

But with kick-off in South Africa in June next year, it faces a race against the clock.

“That’s why we are working 24 hours a day,” the state’s project director Celso Mabjaia said as labourers prepared at sunset to hand over to the night shift.

The project has employed 273 Chinese and 331 Mozambicans so far, with the figures expected to reach 500 and 1 000 by the end of the project.

Maputo is expected to start paying back the loan in 2017.

The final result will be a multi-facility sports park anchored by the 42 000 capacity stadium.

It is one of several Chinese-backed projects worth millions of dollars in Mozambique.

Small village

On the site on the Maputo outskirts, the Chinese have set up a small village with a vegetable garden, communal dormitories, dining and bathroom areas, and a ping-pong table.

“They work very hard - 24 hours - and they look for daily results,” said Jose de Sousa Pereira, the Mozambican sports ministry spokesperson.

“They are high performance workers, so we are learning from them, this culture of working.”

Communication and cultural differences have been a challenge overcome through practicalities and many hand gestures.

“I know how to greet in Chinese now,” said Domingos Porfirio, 24, dubbed “amigo” by his welding team leader. “We speak about lots of things… women, sightseeing… They want to know about the country.”

“They received me very well and they treat me very well. I thought they were racist, now I found they are not racist. They are friendly,” he said.

Others said they were happy to have a job but that the work was hard.

World’s poorest nation

Mozambique is one of the world’s poorest nations - ranking 172 out of 177 countries in the latest UN human development index - with foreign aid making up 51% of the country’s $3.2bn budget last year.

Built on ties established during the Marxist-led fight for independence from Portugal in the 1960s, China is the country’s sixth largest foreign direct investor.

In 2007, China’s President Hu Jintao pledged further loan assistance of $170m for the strategically placed nation whose 2 000-kilometre coastline offers access to land-locked Zambia, Malawi and Zimbabwe.

Officials believe the football stadium will allow Mozambique to benefit from the World Cup as Maputo is just 450km from the main host city Johannesburg.

Regional countries completely support South Africa’s hosting of the Cup, said Pereira.

“It’s very important to give to the world the opportunity to see that in southern Africa development is going on and that we have ability and capacity to receive this kind of project,” he said.

- AFP