The Online Guide to Investing, Doing Business, and Living in Africa |
Home | News/ Blog | Events | Publications | Organizations | About Africa |
This is Not San Francisco -- It's Africa's Longest Suspension Bridge in Mozambique
The nation of Mozambique has finally opened the Maputo–Katembe bridge, the longest suspension bridge in Africa. It connects commuters from the capital city of Maputo to a district called Katembe on the southern bank. Not only does it cut a 2-hour drive down to just a few minutes, but it also opens up the capital to KwaZulu-Natal (KZN), a province of South Africa.
The four-lane suspension bridge, which cost about $726 million USD to build, is 3041 meters (almost 2 miles) long and crosses the Maputo bay at a height of 60 meters (about 197 feet). The main supporting cables are each connected to a solid anchor block via steel structures in the north and south.
Design and construction was completed by a Chinese building and civil engineering group called CRBC, which has offices in nearly 60 countries across Asia, Africa, Europe, and the Americas. The project was also financed by a Chinese bank.
Prior to the bridge's completion, only 15,000 to 20,000 people lived in Katembe, and most of them commuted back and forth to the city by ferries. But now, experts predict a massive population growth of up to 400,000 residents for Katembe. They also predict that the entire southern shore will soon be urbanized bringing more potential business and tourism to Mozambique.
Mozambique is a country located in Southeast Africa bordered by the Indian Ocean to the east, Tanzania to the north, Malawi and Zambia to the northwest, Zimbabwe to the west, and Eswatini (Swaziland) and South Africa to the southwest. The only official language of Mozambique is Portuguese, which is spoken mostly as a second language by about half the population. Common native languages include Makhuwa, Sena, and Swahili.