Mozambique short of funds for strategic rail link

The authorities in Mozambique have said investors were reluctant to commit an estimated US $400 million needed to repair and rebuild the war-damaged strategic railway line linking the port city of Beira with neighbouring Malawi. African Eye News Service on Tuesday quoted officials as saying talks were underway with local investors as well as the authorities in China, South Africa and Spain to seek funding for the line which used to carry over 1.5 million mt of cargo annually up to 1980 before it was put out of action during the civil war. Maize at risk in northern Mozambique Over 10,000 mt of maize in the northern Mozambique province of Niassa was in danger of rotting because the state marketing board lacks funds to purchase output from local farmers, PANA news agency reported on Monday. It quoted Maputo's Sunday newspaper, 'Domingo', as saying the local marketing board had been instructed not to make further maize purchases in the area because it lacked funding and because it had so far been unable to find buyers abroad.