The government of Egypt has said it is ready to provide Malawi with technical assistance in the development of the Shire–Zambezi waterway, which is designed to link landlocked Malawi to the Indian Ocean by opening the two rivers for navigation.

Egyptian ambassador to Malawi Maher el-Adawy says Egypt can use its expertise, which has seen the North African country successfully upgrade the Suez Canal, to develop the Shire–Zambezi waterway.

“The technology that we . . . used to open the 32 km new Suez Canal indicates that Africa can carry out massive projects and make a difference in its economic sector,” says El-Adawy.

Malawi has already completed construction of the Nsanje World inland port to handle cargo that will be ferried through the waterway but has yet to start using the port since its partner in the project, Mozambique, has demanded that a feasibility study be completed before the waterway is used.

Malawi, Mozambique and Zambia, which are expected to be the main beneficiaries of the proposed waterway, have hired a consultant to carry out a feasibility study which will also include environmental- and social-impact assessments.

Malawi Minister of Transport Francis Kasaila states that the results of the study will be released in March next year.

He says: “We are almost done with the ground work and we are compiling a final report which will be released in March or April next year.

“We are doing all we can to ensure that the Nsanje World Inland Port is operational.”

The Nsanje World inland port is one of the transport corridor projects being promoted by the Southern Africa Development Community and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa.

A prefeasibility study for the $6-billion project indicated that some drilling would be required to allow navigation by medium-size seagoing vessels because the Shire river is deep and narrow, while the Zambezi is wide but shallow.

Malawi mainly uses road transport to gain access to the seaports of Beira and Nacala, in Mozambique, Dar-es-Salaam, in Tanzania, and Durban, in South Africa.