The African Development Bank Group's Acting Chief Economist and Vice President for Economic Governance and Knowledge Management Kevin Urama, has completed a three-day official visit to Mozambique.
Urama led a small team to the southern African country in response to a request from the Mozambican government for Bank support in shoring up capacity to manage public finance in the country. The team included African Development Bank Country Manager for Mozambique, Cesar Augusto Mba Abogo; Eric K. Ogunleye, Urama's advisor, and Bank Senior Country Economist in Mozambique, Romulo Correa.
The delegation held consultations with stakeholders on a range of issues including greater coordination on policy, effectiveness and development impact. Urama also took part in discussions on closing the infrastructure gap and incentives to boost youth and women entrepreneurship,
During a meeting with the African Development Bank delegation, Mozambique's Minister of Economy and Finance Ernesto Max Elias Tonela said, "The Bank has been our strategic partner for over 45 years and has contributed through a vast array of financing instruments to meet Mozambique's development needs."
He also said that the Bank's bold efforts to diversify its offerings to African countries facing of an array of challenges - including rising debt, climate change, political insecurity-related risks, and evolving geopolitical challenges -- was greatly appreciated.
Urama said, "The African Development Bank Group will stand with Mozambique through its ambitious but achievable public financial management reforms. We are optimistic that with the political commitment and proactive leadership of the government and the cooperation of the private sector and peer development partners in this country, we can achieve the goal".
Urama urged the country's leadership to push on with its reforms in order to strengthen domestic revenue mobilization and deepen domestic financial and capital markets.
The Bank also paid Prime Minister Adriano Maleiane a courtesy visit. The Prime Minister thanked the Bank for its support, saying "We know where to go and need support on how to get there," he said.
A second delegation from the African Development Bank is scheduled to conduct a follow-up mission to Mozambique on 25 April 2022 to advance implementation of activities relating to public finance management reforms.
