O caminho de ferro trans-zambesiano, aspectos políticos e econômicos da construção, 1908-1970

Abstract

The trans-Zambese is a railway that departs from Blantyre, Malawi, reaches the territory of Mozambique, crossing the provinces of Tete and Sofala. In this province, it ends in Dondo, at the junction with the Beira Railway. In general, the structure of the railways in Mozambique was determined by external principles linked to the need to transport raw materials from British colonies in the hinterland. However, despite these general motivations, which in the case of the trans-Zambesian seem to have constituted a pretext, the construction of each railway had specific motivations. In this case, it is mainly in the adopted route that the political motivations of the undertaking are found, understanding that this is the sum of several sections built at different times. This project was covered by British imperialist ambitions, or more properly, it results from the confrontation between British and Portuguese imperialism in the Portuguese East Africa region, today Mozambique. But it was, above all, the promoters of the colonial projects who played a decisive role in establishing the definitive section of the trans-Zambese, with special reference to Libert Oury and his group, which during the first three decades of the last century had a great influence on the Porto da Beira and the Companhia de Moçambique, which managed the territories of Manica and Sofala by concession from the Government of Portugal, and which, in turn, was the concessionaire for the trans-Zambesian railway project. It is also worth highlighting the role initially played by the Shire Highlands settlers, pioneers of this railway and the British metropolitan authorities. What happened next was a response to developments around the railway.