The $6-billion Shire-Zambezi waterway project in southern Africa is in jeopardy because two sponsoring countries are at odds.
Landlocked Malawi and Mozambique, two of three countries (the other is Zambia) that signed a memorandum of understanding to construct a 238-kilometer waterway project, disagree about a comprehensive study on the impact of the multibillion-dollar plan to construct an inland free port at Nsanje in southern Malawi and link it to the Indian Ocean port of Chinde in Mozambique. Economists estimate the improved waterway would save the three countries $250 million a year in transport costs.