|
|
Mozambique: World Bank President in Country
 |
 |
|||||||||
|
||||||||||
|
|
|||||||||
|
||||||||||
Agencia de Informacao de Mocambique (Maputo)
4 February 2008
Posted to the web 4 February 2008
Maputo
World Bank President Robert Zoellick said on Monday that the Bank is willing to assist the Mozambican government "to avoid the problems we have seen elsewhere of the dual economy".
The term "dual economy" refers to resource-rich countries (notably oil producers) where the natural resource sector develops to the detriment of the rest of the economy, leading to enclaves of wealth in the midst of poverty, often accompanied by rampant corruption.
Speaking to reporters immediately prior to leaving Mozambique at the end of a three day visit, Zoellick stressed the importance of the "Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative" (EITI), which demands that companies developing national resources, and the governments, publish details of all the money involved and where it goes.
Mozambique has not yet joined EITI, but Zoellick claimed the Mozambican government "is moving towards it", and that the Mozambican government is fully aware of the dangers of a dual economy.
Mozambique's known mineral resources include natural gas, coal and titanium-bearing heavy sands, while there also strong hopes that oil may be discovered in the Rovuma Basin, and possibly in the Zambezi basin.
Zoellick said the polarization of a "dual economy" can be avoided by investing the income from resources into social development, and also by encouraging small and medium enterprises. He said the World Bank's private sector funding arm, the International Finance Corporation (IFC) was already doing this through the "Linkages" programme whereby small companies are encouraged to provide goods and services for the country's largest factory, the MOZAL aluminium smelter on the outskirts of Maputo.
"Dual economies are particularly vulnerable to corruption", warned Zoellick. "States are often offering concessions, and these can come with bribes. So it helps to adopt transparency so that people know what money is being paid".
"This is a challenge for all countries that are developing natural resources and have major infrastructure projects", stressed Zoellick. He said he was pleased that both President Armando Guebuza and Prime Minister Luisa Diogo "want to avoid these problems".
The Minister of Planning and Development, Aiuba Cuereneia, who was accompanying Zoellick, said the government "is making exploitation of resources as transparent as possible". New legislation on oil, gas and minerals guaranteed that contracts in these areas "cannot be ad-hoc or discretionary".
He also pledged full disclosure of revenue from natural resources in the state budget.
Zoellick claimed that the World Bank's long term approach to Africa "is to work with Africans".
"There have been too many occasions when other people told Africans what to do", he admitted. While there were "terrible traumas" in such countries as Chad, Kenya or Zimbabwe, elsewhere on the continent, including in Mozambique, "you have a government with excellent people. They certainly know their country better than we do, and we can work with them, and can bring finance and experience from elsewhere".
"This is not to say that Africans will not make mistakes. Everyone makes mistakes", he added. "But when you have national ownership and responsibility, it will work. Together we learn from the mistakes and move forward".
Asked about increased Chinese investment in Africa, Zoellick said he was sure that the Chinese could bring important experience, particularly in agriculture, to sub-Saharan Africa. On a visit to China in December, he had found that "the Chinese are interested in working with us to ensure transparency and avoid corruption. Of course, there are differing Chinese companies - but the Chinese don't want projects that are faulty and can't be paid back".
During his visit, Zoellick had flown over the Zambezi Valley to observe the flooding in central Mozambique. He said he had been shocked by the devastation he had witnessed, and believed that a long term solution would involved building further dams that could ensure flood control.
|
Summarising the World Bank's relationship with Mozambique over the past 20 years, Zoellick said the Bank's soft loans affiliate, the International Development Association (IDA) had lent Mozambique 3.5 billion US dollars. The World Bank had handled a further 700 million dollars through trust funds for other donors.
The IFC had invested around 200 million dollars, and another part of the World Bank Group, the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA) had provided guarantees of 267 million dollars. This was MIGA's largest exposure in sub-Saharan Africa and its fourth highest in the world.
Currently the World Bank is funding 17 projects in Mozambique (over 50 per cent of them on infrastructure), and is also among the 19 donors and funding agencies that provide direct support for the Mozambican state budget. Budget support from the World Bank for this year is 60 million dollars.
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Copyright © 2008 Agencia de Informacao de Mocambique. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections -- or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Make allAfrica.com your home page | RSS Feed | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Top | Site Guide | Who We Are | Advertising | Search | Subscribe | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Questions or Comments? Contact us. Read our Privacy Statement. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
