Nacala

Nacala, also known as Cidade de Nacala or Nacala-Porto is a city on the northern coast of Mozambique. Located in the southwestern indentation of inner Fernao Veloso Bay, it is the deepest natural port on the east coast of Africa. Nacala serves as the terminal for the Nacala Railway, a rail link to the landlocked Malawi. South of Nacala is Mozambique Island, at one time the capital of Mozambique and now a World Heritage site.The Nacala Development Corridor, also called "Corredor de Desenvolvimento do Norte" ("CDN"), is an area that reaches westward from Nacala to Malawi and is home to about ten million people.HistoryNacala was founded as a little town and developed as a deep waters port and an industrial, agricultural and exporting centre during the last period of the Portuguese rule of the territory which ended in the mid-1970s. Among its major industries were cement, sisal and cashew. Other important employers were the seaport, its small modern hospital, and services (banking, insurance and administration).IndustryNacala is site of one of three cement works in Mozambique.TransportNacala is the terminal of the Nacala Railway that connects to the Central East African Railway of Malawi. The railway system was managed by the Railroad Development Corporation until September 2008 when it was sold to a group of Mozambican investors.