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SPEECH BY PRESIDENT NELSON MANDELA AT THE MAPUTO DEVELOPMENT CORRIDOR
INVESTOR CONFERENCE

Maputo, 6 May 1996

Your excellency, President Joaquim Chissano;
Honourable Ministers from
Mozambique and South Africa;
Business leaders from Southern Africa and
abroad;
Distinguished guests;
Ladies and gentlemen,

We have long cherished the dream that one-time allies in the struggle for
liberation would become partners in development.

We have during the past two years taken great strides in preparing to make
that dream a reality.

With the Maputo Development Corridor Initiative we see the preparations
coming of age in a concrete and most exciting way.

Over the past six months the governments of Mozambique and South Africa have
been working together to put in place the necessary foundation for the launch of
this initiative.

I would like to take this opportunity to commend all those involved for the
speed and thoroughness with which this work has been done. Congratulations! You
have laid a sound foundation.

The task now is to maximise private sector participation, essential to the
success of the project. The development and co-operation elements of the
initiative will make an important contribution to peace and stability in South
Africa. The significance of this conference, therefore, lies in providing
opportunities for investors to help make the Maputo Development Corridor a
meaningful and sustainable initiative, at the same time as earning a profit for
themselves.

Ladies and gentlemen;

The corridor has strategic significance in more ways than one.

It is a practical implementation of the commitment of our governments to
regional co-operation within Southern Africa. Already, the mutual benefits of
such co-operation for both Mozambique and South Africa stand out for all to see.

The South African government is committed to co-operating with Mozambique in
its reconstruction as outlined in the Economic Recovery Programme. The Maputo
Development Corridor initiative represents one of the major undertakings in this
regard.

The Corridor initiative also fits firmly within South Africa's own strategy
for growth and development. In this project are contained the most important
elements of our investment strategy, such as; partnership of government and the
private sector; investment in infrastructure; the stimulation of sectors that
boost foreign exchange earnings; the attention to developing our human capital,
and the creation of jobs.

This conference is the first of many steps to engage the private sector in
this historic initiative. The projects to be presented here will show that a
framework has been established in which sound and practical investment decisions
can be made in a range of sectors, both in South Africa and Mozambique.

In the six short months since President Chissano and myself agreed to embark
on this initiative, our two governments have jointly generated a vision and
goals for the Corridor. Even more critical, they have done sectoral analyses and
identified concrete projects. Business often, and quite correctly, is in the
habit of urging governments to create conditions in which investment can thrive.
This is one good example of such conditions, created both with visionary zeal
and a knack for practical detail.

Key infrastructural projects, some of them the subject of agreements to be
signed today, will improve efficiency in transportation, as well as increasing
the carrying capacity for road, rail and port traffic. The toll road from
Witbank to Maputo, for example, will see private sector involvement not only in
construction but also in its operation over a long period. Similarly the
upgrading of the port and rail facilities will be undertaken on a joint venture
basis between South Africa and Mozambique, wit the private sector playing a
critical role.

Substantial private sector interest already exists and preparations have
begun. The obvious economic advantages and potential returns from investment in
the corridor are going to result in a hive of activity. In anticipation, both
governments have committed themselves to dedicating capacity for the longer term
management co-ordination and promotion of the Corridor.

Simply put, the corridor makes access to and from Maputo easier and more
efficient. It makes expansion of existing operations in mining, manufacturing,
agriculture and tourism feasible, and it opens up substantial new investment
opportunities in these sectors.

Local benefits, particularly in terms of jobs and the development of social
services will be felt along the corridor and beyond. Sub-corridors will open
gateways to communities in Mpumalanga and Northern province, and to the area
North of Maputo to Pande.

Distinguished guests;

Current private sector feasibility studies include some giant projects, in
both South Africa and Mozambique. They would enlarge enormously our region's
capacity to add value to its abundant mineral and energy resources; to boost
exports; and to create jobs.

Each of the mega-projects being considered for Maputo, for example, could
double Mozambique's exports; and give a major boost to Maputo's urban renewal
process.

If, in the past, our peoples shed blood in pursuit of a political idea; if
hatred and destruction characterised inter-state relations; then today we can
all together put our shoulders to the wheel in search of prosperity.

Our governments have blazed the trail of this new partnership. The challenge
for investors is to match the boldness of this unique undertaking with their own
practical decisions.

Let us all join hands in making a better life for all our peoples. Let us
enter the new millennium in a partnership of creation and prosperity.

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