South Africa’s Department of Transport (DoT) is inviting technical and financial proposals for the development of a business case for the Maputo Corridor, linking Mozambique’s Port of Maputo with the South African provinces of Gauteng, Limpopo and Mpumalanga and the wider Southern African Development Community (SADC) region.

The deadline for submissons is 27 May.

Key elements of the corridor include South Africa’s 570km N4 toll road running from Gauteng to Maputo in Mozambique; a railway network; the Lebombo/Ressano Garcia border post; and Maputo port.

Through the development of the business case, the DoT seeks to identify the projects and processes that will lead to the eventual institutionalisation of the Maputo Corridor.

The aim is to address the constraints faced by freight transport operators along the corridor and develop a comprehensive business case to help improve traffic flows and lower logistics costs. The constraints include inadequate road infrastructure, inefficient border post systems, non-standardised customs procedures and administration, and the absence of performance monitoring systems.

The consultant will be tasked with investigating the condition and capacity of existing infrastructure as well as the efficiency of intermodal facilities and information and communications technologies and identifying short, medium and long-term opportunities to stimulate economic development along the corridor in collaboration with stakeholders.

The deliverables include providing a project plan and inception report; stakeholder list and consultation programme; status quo analysis report; financial model; and business case.

In 2005, the South African cabinet approved the National Freight Logistics Strategy (NFLS), which mandated the DoT to map and institutionalise various freight corridors through public-private partnerships (PPP), as well as enhancing integrated planning between government and the private sector.

The NFLS identified the Maputo Corridor as a key corridor, with the Port of Maputo located 590km by road and 581km by rail from Gauteng. This presents the shortest route to a port for South African exporters from Gauteng, Mpumalanga, Limpopo and surrounding areas.