Maputo, Mozambique, 5 March – Portugal is to provide over 1 billion euros to fund development projects in Mozambique, one of which will be the bridge to Catembe, in Maputo, the Portuguese prime minister said Wednesday in Maputo.

According to José Sócrates, who Thursday ends a three-day visit to Mozambique, Banco Luso-Moçambicano which was set up on Wednesday would also analyse the funding of projects such as construction of the northern generator of the Cahora Bassa dam and the “backbone” of power distribution, which will link the country from north to south, two of the biggest projects planned in Mozambique for the next few years.

Construction of the bridge to Catembe, on the southern side of Maputo bay, is a long-planned project and also implies construction of the road to Ponta do Ouro, a beach area in the far south of Mozambique, on the border with South Africa.

Ascendi, a company made up of Portuguese companies Mota Engil and Espírito Santo, competed to build the bridge.

Portugal is also available to fund small power plants, solar and hydroelectric facilities, Sócrates said at the closing session of a conference on renewable energy, which brought together Portuguese and Mozambican businesspeople and ended with the signing of ten protocols