The Chinese-built Maputo Bay Bridge in Mozambique is now open to traffic. The bridge and associated link roads were built by the China Road and Bridge Corporation, with debt finance provided by China.

Speaking at the inauguration, President of Mozambique Filipe Jacinto Nyusi said that the bridge will greatly enhance connectivity between his country and other parts of Africa. This includes much faster road freight movement between Mozambique and South Africa.

Construction of the project, which also includes two ramps of 2 kilometres each, began in June 2014. As is typically the case, the award of the construction contract to China Road and Bridge Corporation was accompanied by a debt finance package. Of the total contract amount of US$786 million, 95% was covered by loans from China Exim Bank.

The 680 metre bridge is the longest twin-tower suspension bridge in Africa. It was officially opened to traffic on 10 November.

The new link is also expected to spark rapid development of the urban district of Katembe, which is located on the other side of Maputo Bay, and up to now has been reliant upon a ferry service. The city of Mapuoto has tended to expand northwards, but will now expand more rapidly in Katembe.

Joao Matlombe, councilmen for transport in the Maputo Council, said that the bridge is strategic to the capital of Mozambique. "We already have an urbanization plan for Katembe and it indicates that there will be more than 400,000 families that will be living in Katembe in the coming 15 to 20 years against the current 25,000", he said.

Mozambique is now accessible from north to south, via a network of roads and motorways. The new transport connection to the Southern coastal region will be used to create a development corridor, mainly for tourism infrastructure, under the so-called "Katembe master plan".

Capital city Maputo is in the far south of the country, close to both Swaziland and South Africa. The port has significant regional potential, and is handling growing volumes of trade from South Africa, Botswana, Swaziland and Zimbabwe. From China's point of view, exports of chrome and magnetite ore are of particular interest.

As part of Mozambique's programme of economic recovery, a concession to manage and develop the deep water Maputo port was awarded to a European port management consortium in September 2000, which subsequently formed a Mozambican joint venture, the Maputo Port Development Company (MPDC) to take over the port in April 2003. MPDC has a concession to operate the port until 2033. Current shareholders include United Arab Emirates based DP World, and South Africa based Grindrod Ltd.

The Maputo Bridge and Link Roads Project is part of a wider connectivity initiative, linking up with the existing road leading from Katembe to Ponta do Ouro, and on to the Republic of South Africa.

The planning and construction of the adjacent roads, with a total length of 170 kilometres, will be supervised by German engineering company GAUFF. The first section of 115 kilometres will link the city of Maputo with Ponta do Ouro, which is considered one of the most attractive tourist destinations in southern Africa. Up until now it was very difficult to reach Ponta do Ouro from Maputo.

With access to Ponta do Ouro the road to the South African border will also be expanded, thus creating a new and shorter transport link between Maputo and Durban.

The second section connects Bela Vista (which lies half way between Maputo and Ponta do Ouro) with Boane, improving access to the eastern border region of Swaziland. This section has a total length of 65 kilometres.