Open the use of Shire and Zambezi rivers by Malawi

Mozambican President Filipe Nyusi has left open the possibility of Malawi’s use of the Shire and Zambezi rivers in Mozambique for its international trade, saying that the matter needs further analysis.“We’ll see, under the Tripartite Memorandum of Mozambique, Malawi and Zambia, what can be done to forward the project,” Nyusi said at a press conference in Lilongwe at the end of a working to the neighbouring country.Concerning the building by Malawi of a river port in Nsange based on the cooperation of Mozambique on the navigation of the Shire river, Filipe Nyusi said the alternative could be its transformation into a dry port.The two countries have long disagreed about the use of the Shire and Zambezi rivers in central Mozambique, with the landlocked country proposing the two rivers as viable access to the Indian Ocean.Maputo cites environmental reasons for its reluctance to allow the Shire and Zambezi to be used by large draft ships, but many suspect Mozambique’s position is a way of protecting rail and road corridors in the centre of the country.Malawian President Peter Mutharika said his country advocated the exploitation of cheaper routes for international trade. “Inter-modal transport is also on our agenda,” he said.In addition to relying on Mozambique for their import and export routes, Malawi and Zambia also intend to increase the amount of power they buy from Mozambique, to make up for the energy deficit in their own capacity.