5,000 Jobs Sweeten Mozambique Sugar Project

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The following is an advisory by Industrialinfo.com (Industrial Information Resources, Inc; Houston, Texas). The opening of the $110 million Marromeu Sugar Complex in the Mozambique sector of the Zambezi Valley will help to create up to 5,000 jobs in one of the country's poorest areas. The rehabilitation and operational management of the sugar mill and infrastructure and the cultivation of 10,270 acres of sugar cane is projected to provide 50% of Mozambique's internal sugar needs by next year. An estimated 100,000 tons per year output is forecast to produce $43 million turnover by 2004 and $8 million profit after debt pay off three years later.

A consortium of Mauritian companies, who between them control five of the 11 mills in Mauritius and produce 40% of Mauritian sugar, was awarded the contract by the Mozambican government in 1998 as part of privatization and globalization of the economy. The consortium is putting $37 million into the project with other financial sources putting up $48 million plus $18 million in forms of equity. These include the Mauritius Commercial Bank, the Development Bank of Southern Africa and the Industrial Development Corporation of South Africa. The Mozambique Government holds a 25% interest in the project.