Portugal loses out to China on Maputo Bay bridge

in Business · 29-10-2011 00:00:00 · 0 Comments

China will replace Portugal in financing the construction of a $500 million USD bridge across Maputo Bay, an official at Mozambique’s investment promotion agency CPI said this week.

The official, confirming press reports, said the government had reached an accord with China on $300 million of financing for the 1.5 kilometre bridge, linking the capital to Catembe on the southern bank. “The credit will take the form of a concession, not a commercial loan, and an accord has already been reached between the two governments”, the CPI official said. Maputo daily O País, quoting CPI director Lourenço Sambo, reported earlier that the deal with China arose due to Portugal’s financial straits. Jorge Valério, the head of Estradas de Zambeze, the Portuguese-led consortium that won the concession to build the Maputo-Catembe bridge, told Lusa News Agency he was unaware of any Chinese participation in the project worth €360 million. TPN/Lusa