Mozambique Picks South African Firm to Build Computer Factory

Mozambique said on Monday it has picked a South African company, Sahara Computers, to build a multimillion dollar computer assembly plant in the country.

A top official from government’s Institute of Information and Communication Technologies (MICTI), Jamo Macanze, said the deal formalizing the agreement has been signed with Sahara Computers and the factory will be operational before the end of 2008.

“Right now, we are discussing fiscal incentives with the Investment Promotion Centre (CPI) for the import of components, and if we achieve such tax exemptions, the computers will be cheap in Mozambique. But if we don’t, they could be more expensive,” Jamo told reporters in Maputo.

He said that the production of the computers would take place in phases, and the quantity produced would depend on the business model and the response from the Mozambican market.

The cost of the imported components would be the factor that determined the price of the computers, he added.

Macanze stressed that a viability study has shown that the conditions exist for developing a computer industry in Mozambique, and he believes that the existence of such an industry would be an opportunity to computerize the country cheaply.

“Although this is a joint initiative between Mozambique and Sahara Computers, we are going to create a Mozambican brand name for our computers,” he added.

Source African Press Agency

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