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Modern road will boost Mozambique coal sector

23 February 2015

The Sub-Saharan Regional Pipeline Corporation (SSRPC) is investing $350-million (about R4-billion) in transforming an approximately 350km-long narrow and unpaved carriageway into a modern road that crosses Mozambique's Tete province and ends at the Zambezi River, where Mozambique, Zambia and Zimbabwe have a common border.

Louis Berger will provide $7.6-million in consultancy services for the rehabilitation of the road, National Road N303. The modernised road will be the shortest link to a railway under construction between the coal-rich province of Tete and the port of Nacala, the deepest port in southern Africa. The road will offer a more cost-effective transportation solution, increasing the flow of goods and mineral resources, particularly copper exports.

"The rehabilitation of the N303 is vital not only for Mozambique but for the region as a whole," said Jean-Pierre Dupacq, the head of Louis Berger's operations in Africa. "The modernised road will greatly boost the local economy, which is mainly dependent on coal mining, by allowing the development of local small scale enterprises along the road."

Overall, the project will encompass the rehabilitation, widening and/or reinforcement of the road and the existing structures; improvement of the alignment, pavement and signage design; drainage and ancillary works; as well as the rehabilitation of 19 bridges. Louis Berger will be responsible for providing pure design services for the development of feasibility, environmental and social impact assessment and resettlement studies.

Louis Berger has more than 50 years of experience in Africa and 25 years of experience working in Mozambique, where the firm has implemented approximately 50 projects. These public- and private- sector funded contracts cover a broad range of professional services in the markets of transport, environment, water and sanitation, agriculture, power, telecommunications and health.

The final beneficiary of the road rehabilitation project will be the government of Mozambique, namely the National Roads Directorate, with whom SSRPC entered into a public-private partnership type of agreement.

Louis Berger is a global professional services corporation that helps infrastructure and development clients to solve complex challenges. It uses the multidisciplinary expertise of nearly 6 000 engineers, economists, scientists, managers and planners in more than 50 nations.

Source: APO