Mozambique: Over 400,000 US Dollars Needed for Grain Storage Silos Repairs

Silos

The Mozambique Commodity Exchange (BMM) says that it needs at least 25 million meticais (about 410,000 US dollars at the current exchange rate) to correct mistakes made during the construction of grain storage silos across the country.

Cited in the weekly "Domingo", BMM Chief Executive Officer Antonio Grispos said that several mechanical and electrical errors were detected in silos built recently throughout the country and currently under the management of his institution.

The absence of electrical power transformers and inadequate scales which failed to meet the specifications in the tender documents are some of the causes which compromise silo's performance.

"We have been correcting these situations, but some have exceeded our level of intervention due to our limited resources. In general, they are problems that we identified when the infrastructures (silos) started operations, "said Grispos.

As a result of these errors, the BMM needs about 25 million meticais to correct all anomalies and to build few warehouses in productive regions where storage silos are still unavailable.

This sum, besides correcting silos defects, will also be used for routine maintenance."When we did our calculations in 2015 the dollar cost up to 40 meticais.

At the time, we needed about 10 million to 15 million meticais. However, with the appreciation of the dollar against the metical now we need 25 million meticais to do the job, "he said.

To mobilize this sum, the BMM has submitted a package of fees, including storage, intermediation and cleaning, among others, to the Ministry of Industry and Trade, which is the supervising body.

Work on the silos began in 2009, with the intention of allowing for better storage and conservation of grain, and improving the functioning of agricultural markets.

The first phase involved building five silos, with the total capacity to hold 18,000 tonnes of grain, in the provinces of Sofala, Zambezia, Nampula and Niassa. In a second phase, 21 silos, which can hold 21,000 tonnes were built in Tete, Zambezia, Cabo Delgado and Niassa. The third phase was for silos in Manica, Tete, Zambezia and Gaza to hold 18,000 tonnes, but it has not yet been completed.