Mozambique–Italy Business Conference: Minister highlights logistics corridors as key development drivers

Mozambique’s logistics corridors were, on Monday, presented to Italian business leaders as a strategic axis for economic development, job creation and regional integration. The initiative comes as the country seeks to accelerate reforms, attract foreign investment and enhance the competitiveness of its strategic infrastructure. Speaking at the opening ceremony of the Mozambique–Italy Business Conference 2026, under the theme “Partnerships for the Sustainable Development of Infrastructure”, the Minister of Transport and Logistics, João Matlombe, said logistics corridors should be understood as instruments of development, not merely channels for the movement of goods.

“Logistics corridors are development corridors. They serve regional and national growth and the creation of employment opportunities,” he said, stressing that the Maputo (south), Beira and Nacala (central Mozambique) corridors connect the country to seven landlocked African states. Matlombe warned of regional competitiveness losses, noting that “there are cargoes that travel 2,000 kilometres to Durban instead of 600 kilometres to Nacala”.

He called for the removal of trade barriers and the modernisation of infrastructure. The minister also highlighted progress in port digitalisation, with Maputo Port now enabling real-time cargo tracking across the logistics chain. For his part, the Italian Ambassador to Mozambique, Gabriele Annis, reaffirmed Rome’s commitment to strengthening bilateral economic cooperation.

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“Our economies are complementary and we want to create a win-win logic,” he said, advocating increased Italian investment in infrastructure, energy and urban regeneration. Annis highlighted the mobilisation of Italy’s business and financial sectors to support structural projects in Mozambique, within the framework of Euro-African cooperation. Also at the same session, the Chairperson of Mozambique Ports and Railways (CFM), Agostinho Langa, stressed the role of public-private partnerships (PPPs) in modernising rail and port corridors, including track doubling and increased logistics capacity.

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