Logistical challenges

“Mozambique has traditionally been war-torn; but now there is a democratic government and a huge move to export coal,” he says. “Now the problem is inland infrastructure. If you are talking about moving coal, you need to have a very sound rail infrastructure – which Mozambique simply doesn’t have. You can’t move coal in trucks of 6,000-7,000 tonnes – even if the road were good enough for running such huge trucks.”

Maputo, the country’s existing coal terminal, is close to the South African border and handles large volumes of South African exports. There are moves to develop Beira further north, including repairing the railway line which was damaged during the civil war, says Blaine Ouimette, an international developer and project manager specialising in coal trades. However, he says, Beira only has 8 metres water depth and it is a silting port. “I don’t see it as being a big player because it is too shallow.”

Further north still, the focus is on Nacala – which offers one of the deepest natural harbours. “This has wonderful potential as a port but this is a very undeveloped part of the country and rail services to the port require major investments,” he says.

The landlocked state of Botswana has major problems of connectivity but is one to watch, says Mr Krishna. “They are trying to lay a railway line across Namibia to west coast Africa, to export coal to Brazil. So there are developments taking place.”