Carlos Mesquita, managing director of Cornelder, which manages the Mozambican port of Beira, was expecting to have resolved the issue of congestion at the port by the end of 2013. He points out that this is been developing problem over the past decade given the amount of cargo the port is now handling and the investment being made in both road and rail.
Part of the solution is the resumption of freight traffic to Lusaka, in nearby Zambia, after an absence of 25 years.This means that, in future, the majority of traffic (around 75%) will be moved by rail and just 25% by road. Until recently, road had a 65% market share and rail the remaining 35%.