African Development Bank Vice-President for Private Sector, Infrastructure and Industrialization, Mr. Solomon Quaynor, officially visited Mozambique last week. He met with Mozambican government representatives and members of the private sector. Discussions covered the bank's country strategy for Mozambique, recent reforms the government has undertaken, and the country's strategic energy and transport sectors in particular.
The African Development Bank's country manager for Mozambique, Cesar Mba Abogo, joined Quaynor for meetings with Economy and Finance Minister Ernesto Max Elias Tonela, who is the African Development Bank governor for Mozambique. Other officials Quaynor met were Minister of Transport and Communications Mateus Magala, and Minister of Industry and Commerce Silvino Augusto Moreno. Magala was, until recently, the African Development Bank's vice president for human resources and corporate services..
Tonela commended the African Development Bank's development support for Mozambique's, and for helping to build its human capacity. He said the government had launched a reform program to support businesses, with a focus on small and medium-sized enterprises.
Quaynor commended the government for pushing through reforms that are expected to accelerate economic recovery from the impacts of the Covid-19 pandemic and tropical cyclones Idai and Kenneth. He said the government's reforms align with the bank's new country strategy, covering the 2022-2027 period, and its initiatives to strengthen the private sector.
The bank's new country strategy prioritizes economic private sector investment and structural transformation of agricultural value-chains.
Under the previous country strategy, which covered the period 2017-2022, Mozambique launched or completed several key projects. They included the Nacala corridor, Temane transmission lines, the Pemba-Lichinga special agro-processing zone and the Drought Recovery and Agriculture Resilience initiative.
Discussions also covered transport and logistics infrastructure. Magala said: "Mozambique has a strategic geographic location in the region, making it an ideal route to port access for neighboring landlocked countries including Zimbabwe, Eswatini, Malawi and Zambia. Strategic and innovative investments in improving the major transport systems and port efficiency can transform Mozambique into a major logistics hub."
Quaynor also met with leaders of Mozambique's state oil and fuel company Empresa Nacional de Hidrocarbonetos, the Mozambican Association of Banks, French energy firm Total Energies, and representatives of the diplomatic corp and industry associations.
The African Development Bank's current country portfolio of $1.04 billion comprises 23 projects, concentrated in the energy, transport and agriculture sectors.
Vice President Quaynor was on a tour of southern African that also took him to Eswatini South Africa and Zimbabwe.
Contact:
Elisangela Cristo, Communications and External Relations Department, email: media@afdb.org
