Cyclone Idai’s massive damage to the Mozambican port city of Beira is likely to have significant long-term effects on trade within the region.
The port of Beira is a gateway for imports to landlocked countries in Southern Africa such as Zimbabwe.
But with the cyclone having caused extensive damage to the city, the broader consequences are yet to be fully felt but signs are already showing.
The Red Cross has highlighted the extent of damage to Beira’s infrastructure.
“The scale of devastation is enormous. It seems that 90 per cent of the area is completely destroyed,” said Jamie LeSueur in a statement.
“Almost everything is destroyed. Communication lines have been completely cut and roads have been destroyed.”
LeSueur is leading the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC) team into Beira.
Over the past few years Beira port has become the most agile gateway to serve the Central Mozambique, Malawi, Zambia, Eastern DRC and Zimbabwe markets.
The port of Beira is of particular significance to Zimbabwe as it is the shortest route to the sea for the country’s exports and imports.
The distance between Harare and Beira is only 559 kilometres, while that between Harare and Durban is 1 683km.
And the effects are already being felt, with the country’s wheat imports through Beira port having been affected by the cyclone.
Grain Millers Association of Zimbabwe (GMAZ) chairperson Tafadzwa Musarara told reporters on Tuesday that they are facing logistical challenges in transporting wheat imports following the damage to key infrastructure in the port of Beira.
Musarara said millers have now resorted to using alternative routes to move the wheat into the country, a move that could inflate their costs.
“We have close to 100 trucks that are supposed to come from Beira but cannot come.
“The current wheat that we are receiving is wet, it has been affected during transit.
” We are now working on having a ship dock in Maputo so that the wheat can be transported from there into the country,” he said.
Zimbabwe requires over 400 000 tonnes of wheat per annum. Its seasonal output is sufficient for just three months.
The country’s other importers and exporters who utilize the port of Beira have also not been spared.
However, the government has assured the nation that there will be no interruption in fuel supplies as there was no damage to the fuel pipeline from Mozambique.
“We receive our fuel through the pipeline and it has not been disturbed by the rains. We will not be affected by anything at all,” said the country’s Energy and Infrastructural Development Minister Joram Gumbo yesterday.
Petroleum products are transported into Zimbabwe through the Feruka pipeline and stored at Msasa Depot in Harare for distribution to other NOIC depots and customers.
Cyclone Idai made landfall near the port city of Beira in Sofala province last Thursday with winds of up to 177 km/h, and has affected hundreds of thousands of people in Southern Africa especially in countries namely Mozambique, Zimbabwe and Malawi.