Opening Up To Visitors
New airport in Gaza Province gives a boost to Mozambique’s tourism and local development
The second year of the global pandemic has forced Mozambique to close around 90 percent of its beaches and tourist attractions across the country. Filling managerial positions for tourist establishments located at Praia de Xai-xai Beach in Gaza Province is bringing hope and expectations for the region. The light at the end of the tunnel comes from the newly opened airport, which is expected to drastically improve the transport in Gaza. Until late last year, Gaza was the only one of 11 provinces in Mozambique whose capital did not have an international airport.
The new infrastructure, called Filipe Jacinto Nyusi, named after Mozambique’s current president, has the capacity to receive around 229,000 passengers per year and will reduce the three-to-four-hour car journey between Maputo (capital of Mozambique) and Xai-xai, the capital city of Gaza Province, to just 15 minutes of flight.
This airport was considered a missing factor in the acceleration of development for tourism, industry, agriculture and logistics in Gaza. The airport opens up more possibilities for the province to integrate into the national, regional and world economy, especially for the ailing tourism sector.
President Filipe Jacinto Nyusi, while inaugurating the new airport at the end of November last year, said, “The investment made here is the result of a donation of approximately $64,343 from the Government of the People’s Republic of China, within the scope of the good cooperation relations between Mozambique and this brother country.”
According to Nyusi, infrastructure will play a fundamental role in the social and economic development of the province and this will facilitate socio-economic development and promote cohesion, national unity, good governance, political stability and a safe element of inclusion.
Nyusi said the country’s integrated vision of its economic development program consists of increasing the productive capacity of the agriculture, fishing and tourism sectors, associated with the value chain that provides for the addition of value through industrial transformation.
“This process presupposes the construction of infrastructures that serve as a basis for the evolution of those sectors. In this way, we understand that the new airport will boost the movement of people and goods, from the perspective of complementarities and synergies between the various infrastructures,” said Nyusi.
Boost for tourism sector
Gaza is the richest province in Mozambique’s tourism sector, with beaches along a coastline stretching 105 km. Some of those stunning beaches include Bilene, Zongoene, Xai-xai, Chongoene, Chizavane, Chidenguele and Denguine.
Also located in the province are the Limpopo National Park, Banhine National Park and Zinave National Park. These form part of the greater Limpopo area that include South Africa and Zimbabwe.
Despite the province’s vast cultural, historical and natural wealth for tourists, even in the pre-pandemic period, Gaza received only 114,591 visitors in 2018. Among them, 67,341 were nationals and only 47,250 foreigners. It is South Africa’s main outbound market, followed by Zimbabwe and, to a lesser extent, European tourists. Those numbers are considered small compared to what the province has to offer.
According to Nyusi, with this data, the new airport will require more promotion to sell Gaza and Mozambique to tourists, particularly from Europe, the Americas and Asia, whose most used means of transport is aircraft. He hopes the airport can elevate the Gaza’s visitors to the same level as the other provinces of the country.
Zibuna Momade is the manager of Campismo, a camping operation for tourists on Xai-xai Beach in Gaza Province. Her work made her realize the importance of tourism and she is happy with the new airport. She believes tourists don’t want to spend long periods driving.
“They want to go out, walk on the sand, swim or surf. In a short period of time, they want to do as many activities as possible. Before, we didn’t have many tourists coming here for lack of quick ways to get here, and with the airport, we expect more tourists,” said Momade.
Momade started her business on Xai-xai Beach in 2005, but was forced to close in 2009 because of lack of visitors. When she received news about construction of the airport in 2018, she reopened her business; however, the COVID-19 pandemic has negatively impacted her business.
In this aspect, the airport introduces a new strategic dynamic as a logistical and development center, which, by including the sectors of agriculture, fisheries and tourism, directly impacts local communities, promoting inclusive and sustainable development of the local economy and improving the well-being of the population in these areas.
“We know that this pandemic will not last forever. We expect it to pass quickly and things will get back to normal. After the beaches open, we hope to get more tourists from outside through the airport,” she said.
Opening doors
The sustainability of the Filipe Jacinto Nyusi International Airport will not just be guaranteed by tourism, as Gaza Province also enjoys potential resources in other sectors such as agriculture, fishing and mineral resources, including major projects in the Limpopo agriculture value chain, such as a special economic zone and the Chibuto heavy sands project.
“In this aspect, the airport introduces a new strategic dynamic as a logistical and development center, which, by including the sectors of agriculture, fisheries and tourism, directly impacts local communities, promoting inclusive and sustainable development of the local economy and improving the well-being of the population in these areas,” said Nyusi.
He also expects the emergence of a citadel in Gaza’s Chonguene, with infrastructure such as hotels, conference centers, business centers, efficient road transport and other initiatives that complement air transport.
China-gaza relationship strengthened
Gaza Province has benefited greatly from the positive relationship between the governments of Mozambique and China, with the airport being the second-largest source of employment for young people resulting from this relationship. The largest of the kind is Wanbao Africa Agriculture Development Ltd.
Margarida Mapandzane, Governor of Gaza Province, said that the airport provided opportunities for young people in the province to find jobs and hopes that other jobs will be created in the future.
“From the beginning of the airport construction activities until today, we have young people from Gaza Province working at the airport and we hope that more job posts will be created thanks to the airport. This is very important because the more local young people are employed, the faster the province develops, and that is what we all want,” said Mapandzane.
Meanwhile, Wanbao Africa Agriculture Development Ltd. is responsible for creating 400 direct jobs and 1,500 indirect jobs. A large part of these jobs have become more visible at the end of 2021, mainly from November to January. This is due to the months that Wanbao reserves for fertilizing and releasing seeds.
Quoting the old Chinese proverb “neither mountains nor rivers can separate those who have the same aspiration,” Nyusi considers these investments proof that there are no socio-cultural boundaries that can separate two nations from becoming brothers, and Gaza is proof of this.
FILIPE JACINTO NYUSI Mozambican President