Onorio Manuel, MozParks General Manager
Beluluane Industrial Park and Free-Trade Zone is home to Mozal and 40 companies from 15 different countries, supporting a workforce of 5000 employees. Beluluane Industrial Park is a Public-Private-Partnership between the Mozambican Government Agency for Investment and Export Promotion (APIEX) and Swiss-Mozambican Investors. The Park’s mission is to support its clients with the necessary infrastructure and value-added services to successfully conduct business in Mozambique. Managing Director Adrian Frey answered some questions about the park:
Q: What makes Beluluane Industrial Park such an attractive location for business?
A: The park is situated in Boane, Maputo Province. It sits on the backbone of the Maputo Development Corridor and offers the best entry to the SADC, Asian and European markets. Companies operating within the free-trade zone may qualify for attractive exemptions on customs duties and tax offered by the Mozambican Government. We are located in one of the most industrialised and productive regions of Mozambique and have access to the biggest industrial workforce in Maputo Province. We know that almost 30% of industrial employment in the Maputo Province comes from our park.
Q: There have been some positive recent changes at the park?
A: Yes, we have invested in Beluluane Industrial Park in 2017 and since then turned the business around! Since we took over, we have secured 10 new companies that will create over 1000 new jobs! Our leadership and operational team have extensive knowledge in helping investors enter the Mozambican market. We have a very dynamic team of young professionals who serve as an example how young Mozambican people lead business development in Mozambique.
Q: You have a new development plan. What is your long-term vision for the park?
A: Our strategic plan includes the further development of roads, fencing, energy, water, drainage, sanitation, security and landscaping. We are fully invested in maintaining world-class environmental standards. Beluluane will have dedicated zones for downstream aluminium, heavy & light industries and a dry port. The long-term vision is to develop a multi-sectoral park that will serve the fast-growing Mozambican and regional markets. To date, Mozal has been the anchor project and many were established to service their needs. The presence of Mozal offers ample business opportunities to companies locating there as suppliers of components and services for its operations.
Q: The park companies and neighboring communities are separated by the green belt buffer zone that runs around the perimeter of the park. What is the purpose of this?
A: Government established the green belt buffer zone in 1997 when the land for Mozal (300ha) and the park (600ha) was allocated. The main purpose of this zone is to protect the environment and the people in our surrounding communities. This was approved by the resolution 2/99 (revised by resolution 1/2000) of the Provincial Government, following a pre-approval from the Council of Ministers (see Mapa 11 for details). All occupants of this area where compensated and resettled to Djuba, which means that the area is since then reserved only for developing and protecting the natural environmental and habitat. Beluluane Industrial Park is committed to the sustainability of our land and park companies can therefore not make direct and uncontrolled use of the Matola Rio.
Q: Which value-added services do you offer?
A: We are a one-stop-shop for investors that establish their business in the park. As a result of our Public-Private Partnership with APIEX, we are able to facilitate relationships between investors and the various governmental institutions. APIEX was created in 2016 to promote and facilitate investment, bringing together the promotion of public and private investment and exports. The role of APIEX is to support the Mozambican business environment, optimise resources and create greater synergies in areas that impact the country’s economy. We also support our clients with regular workshops to ensure they are up to date with legislation and other developments in the industrial sector.
Q: What are some of your biggest challenges?
A: There is a growing need amongst our clients for better skills. We partnered with the UK Aid and the JOBA Programme to bridge the gap between young graduates and employers. Our internship programme is a first for Mozambique and offers young graduates the opportunity to gain practical skills at the park. We are committed to promote youth employment. Further to creating 1000 new jobs, we are also promoting entrepreneurship and have opened a training centre.
Q: What does the future hold for Beluluane Industrial Park?
A: Mozambique’s investment deal pipeline is promising over US $100 billion in the next 10 years! The industrial sector is showing more than 6% growth per annum and there will be many opportunities for downstream aluminium, industrial manufacturing, construction, transportation, logistics and food processing. We know that our prime location, dynamic leadership and complete services offering will allow us to expand and host more than 500 companies.
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Companies situated in Beluluane Industrial Park will benefit from more stable power supply and an increased power capacity as result of a second power transformer, which was recently installed at the Beluluane Industrial Park substation. Upgrades to the substation has doubled its transformer capacity from 20 MVA to 40 MVA. The substation’s transmission capacity has furthermore increased from 38 MVA to 120 MVA as a result of the new transmission line connecting Infulene to Beluluane Industrial Park.
According to Onório Manuel, Deputy General Manager of Beluluane Industrial Park, the purpose of these improvements is to develop infrastructure that can support future developments and the arrival of more investors.
“We want to be prepared to host all kinds of industries including light, heavy and downstream aluminum. We therefore improved our energy capacity to be able to receive new investors and enable the existing ones to increase their productivity,” he said.
The expansion of the Beluluane power substation will see further developments as the next phases include the installation of another power transformer. This is will increase its capacity to 80MW.
A site visit took place on 6 June between Beluluane Industrial Park management, representatives of Beluluane park companies and Mozambique’s state-owned electricity utility, Electricidade de Moçambique. EDM presented an update regarding power management and supply to the companies situated in Beluluane Industrial Park.
Neves Xavier, Maputo Province Director of Electricidade de Moçambique, said after the visit that this improvement will stabilise the power supply system and address the challenges that park companies have been facing in terms of power consumption.
Onório Manuel added: “This is a historic moment. Since the establishment of the park, our goal has been to attract more companies. The ability to provide more and better quality power is therefore an advantage to that end.”
Beluluane Industrial Park is a Public-Private initiative by APIEX (Agência Para a Promoção de Investimento e Exportações) and Swiss-Mozambican investors. The park is home to 35 companies from more than 15 different countries and currently employs more than 5000 people.
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