US May Use Nacala Air Base in Mozambique: Report

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Saturday, October 12, 2002

US May Use Nacala Air Base in Mozambique: Report

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The United States government is prepared to finance the Nacala rail corridor in northern Mozambique, in exchange for its use of the Nacala air base, reported the independent newspaper Mediafax Friday.

The Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC), a US government agency, will hold a meeting next Wednesday with the SDCN, the private consortium in charge of the Nacala port and railway, the Mediafax reported.

The SDCN has been looking for a total of 52 million US dollars to improve two key stretches of track, one is the final 77 km of the main line from Nacala to Malawi, the other is the branch line from Cuamba to Lichinga, capital of Niassa province.

If all goes well, the Nacala Corridor could become the main outlet to the sea, not only for Malawi, but also for Zambia and even for much of the Democratic Republic of the Congo.

According to Mediafax, an anonymous source "close to the negotiations" said that everything indicates that OPIC will provide a loan of 22 million dollars.

However, in return, Washington wants to use facilities at the Nacala air base. This base used to belong to the Mozambican air force, but for several years the government has been promising to turn it into a civilian airport.

Its location, close to the best deep-water port on the east African coast, aroused strong interest to the US administration that sees its strategic interests as spanning the entire globe.

But when Mediafax tried to confirm this, a US diplomatic source said he had no knowledge of any official information indicated an American interest in the air base.

OPIC grants loans to American companies investing overseas, and guarantees them against political risk.

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