In January 20051, the Mozambican State granted a concession, without a public tender, for the management of the Port of Nacala and the Northern Line to the private company CDN – Northern Development Corridor – through Decrees 20/2000 and 21/2000, both of 25th of July. In addition to the large international capital, the CDN society has a strong participation of politicians and senior leaders of the State and the Frelimo party, including staff from the company Caminhos de Ferro de Moçambique (CFM), in its shareholder structure, a problematic alliance due to its inherent conflicts of interest.
Over the 10 years of management of the concession, CDN caused enormous damages to the State, namely, the lack of maintenance of the concession infrastructures, the accumulation of debts to the State and to CFM, thus violating the contractual clauses of the concession. Until 2009, the losses accumulated by CDN reached more than 25 million dollars. There was also the extinction of social services such as the operation of the passenger and freight train on the Northern Line, which played an important role for the population of the provinces of Nampula and Niassa.
