Officials from Mozambique’s ruling Frelimo party have announced that a new graphite factory is expected to open in the northern province of Niassa in the coming weeks, even as terrorism continues to destabilise much of the region, reports official news agency Agência de Informação de Moçambique.
At a meeting with party leadership, Mozambican president and party leader Daniel Chapo announced the impending inauguration of the country’s first graphite factory built from scratch. Located in the Nipepe district, the factory is expected to open “within the next few days, or even at the beginning of next year,” Chapo said.
Chinese mining company DH Mining Development Limited, which holds the concession licence for the Muichi mine, will manage the factory. Built at a cost of over US$100 million, once completed it will have capacity to produce approximately 200,000 tonnes of graphite annually. Of the more than 1,000 jobs created by the Muichi industrial complex, 800 will be directly involved in graphite production.
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Chapo affirmed that his government will continue to pursue economic independence for Mozambicans, but acknowledged that the scourge of terrorism in the country’s north remains an obstacle.
Tens of thousands of Mozambican families have been displaced from their homes in recent weeks, including in areas once considered safe. Some attacks have occurred in Niassa Province, where the graphite mine is located, like the deadly assault on the Niassa Special Reserve earlier this year that left at least 10 people dead and displaced thousands.
“Fighting this evil requires the participation of all of us, and members of parliament must take up this fight as a collective challenge,” Chapo stressed.
