Maluana Science & Technology Park — Mozambique's Slow-Building 'Silicon Valley'

Mozambique's National Company for Science and Technology Parks was created to convert public research into industrial output, designating Maluana - 950 hectares on the Limpopo Corridor in Maputo province, with rail and EN1 highway access - as its flagship site, envisioned as a Mozambican «Silicon Valley». UNCTAD's 2018 Technology and Innovation Report found the sector's parks, Maluana included, had «experienced a disappointing outcome», describing Maluana as «unsustainable» for never having attracted a significant number of companies. Mozambique's gross R&D expenditure was 0.33% of GDP in 2017, well below the 1% SADC/NEPAD benchmark.

To build a science and technology park that converts research into industrial companies and jobs, attracting resident tenant firms to a site with a stated capacity of 90 companies.

Since UNCTAD's 2018 assessment, the park has grown from 3 resident companies in 2019 to 10 today, with roughly 30 more expressing interest, alongside up to US$20 million mobilised for new research-centre construction and the 2026 launch of «MaluanaBytes», a cloud-computing platform.

10 companies now operate at the park against a stated capacity of 90. Frequent power cuts have continued to damage the park's reputation with prospective tenants.

The recent growth from 3 to 10 resident companies is best read as an early, still-fragile recovery from a documented failure rather than a proven success; the underlying constraints (low national R&D spend, unreliable power supply) have not disappeared.